Wikipedia:Main Page history/2019 June 24

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From today's featured article

Shergar (1978–1983) was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. In 1981 Shergar ran in six races, winning five of them. In June that year he won the 202nd Epsom Derby by ten lengths—the longest winning margin in the race's history. Three weeks later he won the Irish Sweeps Derby by four lengths; a month after that he won the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes by four lengths. He was retired to the Ballymany Stud in County Kildare, Ireland, but was stolen by an armed gang in February 1983. In 1999 Sean O'Callaghan, a former member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, published details of the theft and said it was an operation to raise money for arms. An investigation by The Sunday Telegraph concluded that the horse was shot four days after the theft. No arrests were made for the theft, and Shergar's body was never recovered. In his honour the Shergar Cup was inaugurated in 1999. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

Edith Campbell

... that Canadian nurse Edith Campbell (pictured) was awarded the Military Medal for her bravery during air raids on a First World War hospital in France?
... that in 2019, Libro de los Epítomes, a library catalogue by Ferdinand Columbus, was rediscovered after nearly 500 years?
... that Diane Holl was the first female race engineer to win a Championship Auto Racing Teams motor race?
... that theatre in Saarbrücken began as court theatre directed by Iffland, while plans for today's State Theatre were commissioned by Goebbels?
... that Caliph Abd al-Malik's scribe Sulayman ibn Sa'd al-Khushani changed the language of Syria's bureaucracy from Greek to Arabic?
... that among the varied wildlife of Greece are more than 5,000 species of vascular plant and about 450 species of bird?
... that Canadian journalist Katherine Hughes became Alberta's first provincial archivist, but later became a political activist, fighting for Irish self-determination?
... that lines on sports fields were once marked by young children, but can now be marked by robots equipped with GPS?

In the news

Mohamed Morsi

At least 184 people are killed by a heat wave in India.
Former President of Egypt Mohamed Morsi (pictured) dies during his trial, at the age of 67.
An outbreak of acute encephalitis in Bihar, India, results in the deaths of more than 100 children.
A power outage affects Argentina, Uruguay and parts of Paraguay.

On this day

June 24

"O Canada"

1622 – Dutch–Portuguese War: An outnumbered Portuguese force repelled a Dutch attack in the Battle of Macau, the only major military engagement that was fought between two European powers on the Chinese mainland.
1812 – Napoleonic Wars: The French Grande Armée under Napoleon crossed the Neman river, marking the start of their invasion of Russia.
1880 – "O Canada" (audio featured), today the national anthem of Canada, was first performed in Quebec City, during a Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day banquet.
1939 – The first of the Thai cultural mandates was issued, officially changing the country's name from Siam to Thailand.
1994 – A United States Air Force B-52 Stratofortress crashed at Fairchild Air Force Base in Spokane County, Washington, killing all four crew members, and later providing a case study on the importance of compliance with safety regulations.

Jean-Baptiste de Boyer, Marquis d'Argens (b. 1704) · Carolyn S. Shoemaker (b. 1929) · Rodrigo (d. 2000)

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From today's featured list

K. G. Ramanathan

There were 133 recipients of the Padma Bhushan from 1980 to 1989. The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award of the Republic of India. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service of a high order", without distinction of race, occupation, position or sex. The recipients receive a Sanad, a certificate signed by the President of India and a circular-shaped medallion with no monetary association. Only one award was conferred in 1980, which was later followed by nine in 1981, fifteen in 1982, seventeen in both 1983 and 1984, twenty-one in 1985, fourteen in 1986, twelve in 1987, thirteen in 1988 and fourteen in 1989. The Padma Bhushan was also conferred upon ten foreign recipients in the 1980s – four from the United Kingdom, three from the United States and one each from Denmark, France and Japan. Individuals from nine different fields were awarded, which include twenty-eight from literature and education (1983 recipient K. G. Ramanathan pictured), twenty-five from the civil services and twenty-three artists. (Full list...)

Part of the Padma Bhushan series, one of Wikipedia's featured topics.

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Today's featured picture

The polar bear (Ursus maritimus) is a hypercarnivorous bear whose native range lies largely within the Arctic Circle, encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. A boar (adult male) weighs around 350–750 kilograms (770–1,650 lb), while a sow (adult female) is about half that size. Polar bears are the largest land carnivores currently in existence, rivalled only by the omnivorous Kodiak bear. Although it is the sister species of the brown bear, it has evolved to occupy a narrower ecological niche, with many body characteristics adapted for cold temperatures, for moving across snow, ice and open water, as well as for hunting seals, which make up most of its diet. Although most polar bears are born on land, they spend most of their time on sea ice. The species's scientific name, which is derived from this fact, means 'maritime bear'. Because of their dependence on sea ice, polar bears are categorized as marine mammals. Due to expected habitat loss caused by global warming, the polar bear is classified as a vulnerable species. For decades, large-scale hunting raised international concern for the future of the species, but populations have rebounded after controls and quotas began to take effect.

This picture shows a polar bear on an ice floe north of Svalbard, Norway, feeding on a bearded seal.

Photograph credit: Andreas Weith

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