Wikipedia:Main Page history/2020 January 21

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From today's featured article

O. kokomoensis

Onychopterella was a predatory aquatic arthropod of the order of eurypterids, often called sea scorpions. Fossils of the species O. kokomoensis (pictured) and O. pumilus have been found in the United States, and fossils of O. augusti in South Africa. Onychopterella (from Greek for 'claw wing') lived from the Late Ordovician to the Late Silurian, from 444 to 422 million years ago. The head was almost rectangular, with bean-shaped compound eyes. The limbs were generally long and narrow with a spine on the tip, and the body was ornamented with small, pointed scales. Lengths ranged from 16 cm (6.3 in) for O. kokomoensis to 4 cm (1.6 in) for O. pumilus. Onychopterella was able to swim, and probably able to walk on the seabed with its spines and dig with its head. The best-preserved specimens of O. augusti show similarities to modern scorpions in their alimentary canal, limb musculature and respiratory system. (Full article...)

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Passionvine bug

... that hosts of the passionvine bug (example pictured) include coffee, citrus, mung bean, squash, and mango?
... that when he was killed, Mexican drug lord Luis Alberto Guerrero Reyes was wearing a live grenade as a necklace?
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... that Irene Palaiologina, the elder sister of Byzantine emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos, became a staunch opponent of his proposed union of the churches, and tried to form a Bulgarian–Mamluk alliance against him?
... that the International Criminal Court investigation in Palestine will investigate alleged war crimes by Israel, Hamas, and Palestinian armed groups?
... that producer Orla Doherty spent 500 hours underwater in a submarine during her work on Blue Planet II?
... that after its sale to Western Bible College, radio station KJOL toned down its protests against abortion clinics and grocery stores that sold pornographic materials?
... that Liverpool F.C. became the first team allowed to wear the FIFA Champions Badge in the English Premier League, but only for one game against Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. on 29 December 2019?

In the news

Mikhail Mishustin

In China, a new strain of coronavirus infects more than two hundred people, killing at least four.
Mikhail Mishustin (pictured) is appointed Prime Minister of Russia following the resignation of Dmitry Medvedev and his cabinet.
Scientists announce that presolar stardust grains in the Murchison meteorite formed five to seven billion years ago, and are the oldest solid material found on Earth to date.

On this day

January 21

DMC DeLorean

1789 – The Power of Sympathy by William Hill Brown, widely considered to be the first American novel, was published.
1919 – The First Dáil convened at the Mansion House in Dublin and adopted a declaration of independence calling for the establishment of the Irish Republic.
1941 – World War II: Sparked by the murder of a German officer on the previous day in Bucharest, Romania, members of the Iron Guard began a rebellion and pogrom.
1968 – Cold War: A B-52 bomber carrying four nuclear weapons crashed onto sea ice near Thule Air Base, Greenland, causing localized radioactive contamination.
1981 – The DeLorean Motor Company completed the first production car of the DMC DeLorean (example pictured).

Anna Morandi Manzolini (b. 1714) · Joseph Wolf (b. 1820) · Cecil B. DeMille (d. 1959)

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Today's featured picture

The underground station Rochusplatz on the Cologne Stadtbahn, a light rail system in the German city of Cologne. The station entrance is at the junction of Venloer Straße with Äußere Kanalstraße in the district of Ehrenfeld. It was opened in 1992 and consists of a mezzanine and one island platform with two rail tracks. The station was previously known as Äußere Kanalstraße, but was renamed to its present title on 15 December 2019. The system uses pairs of K5000/K5200 units built by Bombardier Transportation, which are almost identical to the M5000 trams used by Metrolink in Manchester, England.

Photograph credit: Martin Falbisoner

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