Wikipedia:Main Page history/2020 July 7

the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

From today's featured article

M.I.A.

Maya is the third studio album by British recording artist M.I.A. (pictured), released on 7 July 2010 on her own label, N.E.E.T. Recordings, through XL Recordings and Interscope Records. Songwriting and production for the album were primarily handled by M.I.A., Blaqstarr and Rusko in Los Angeles. The album centres on the theme of information politics. Elements of industrial music were incorporated into M.I.A.'s sound for the first time. In the album's first week of release, it entered the UK Albums Chart at number 21, becoming M.I.A.'s highest-charting album in the UK. It also became her highest-charting album in the US, reaching number nine on the Billboard 200, and debuted in the top 10 in Finland, Norway, Greece and Canada. M.I.A. promoted the album by performing at music festivals in the US and Europe and by releasing a series of tracks online, including "XXXO", "It Takes a Muscle" and "Born Free". (This article is part of a featured topic: M.I.A. albums.)

Recently featured:

Did you know ...

Pratt's 1867 Pterotype

... that John Jonathon Pratt, known as the grandfather of the typewriter (1867 model pictured), invented several common typewriter features before Remington or Hammond machines entered the market?
... that rights of nature are legally recognized in twelve countries?
... that as of June 11, 2020, the Navajo Nation had a larger per-capita rate of infection from COVID-19 than any U.S. state?
... that the Thailand-based Diablos outlaw motorcycle club fought the Hells Angels in a gun battle in Australia?
... that in 1557, Cardinal Giovanni Ricci sold Palazzo Sacchetti in Rome for 25,000 scudi to his friend Tommaso Marino in a fictitious sale?
... that railway sabotage during World War II was one of the most common forms of resistance against German occupation?
... that Robert Plunkett resigned as the first president of Georgetown College in 1793 because he preferred a rural life of ministry?
... that the "lost manuscript" of The Ickabog was featured on the dress worn by J. K. Rowling at her 50th birthday party?

In the news

COVID-19 pandemic

Presidential edition of the Russian constitution

Floods in Kyushu, Japan, kill 49 people.
The Russian electorate votes to amend the Russian constitution (pictured).
European police agencies infiltrate EncroChat, an alleged criminal chat system, leading to the arrests of more than 800 people.
More than 170 people are killed in a landslide at a jade mine in Hpakant, Myanmar.

On this day

July 7

Northern fur seal

1456 – Joan of Arc was declared innocent of heresy in a retrial twenty-five years after her death.
1798 – Outraged by the XYZ Affair, the United States rescinded its treaties with France, resulting in the undeclared Quasi-War, fought entirely at sea.
1911 – Four countries signed the North Pacific Fur Seal Convention, which banned the open-water hunting of seals (example pictured).
1963 – The secret police of Ngô Đình Nhu, brother and chief political adviser of South Vietnamese president Ngô Đình Diệm, attacked a group of American journalists who were covering a protest during the Buddhist crisis.
1990 – The Three Tenors performed together for the first time in a concert at the Baths of Caracalla in Rome, watched by a global television audience of around 800 million, on the eve of the 1990 FIFA World Cup Final.

Camillo Golgi (b. 1843)
Gustav Mahler (b. 1860)
Arthur Conan Doyle (d. 1930)

More anniversaries:

Today's featured picture

The Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve is the largest national park in the state of Maharashtra in central India. Most of the reserve consists of natural dry deciduous forests, however parts have been cleared for firewood or grazing land. Besides tigers, there are Indian leopards, sloth bears, gaurs, nilgais, dholes, striped hyenas, small Indian civets, jungle cats, sambars, muntjacs, chitals, chousinghas and honey badgers. There are also villages in the reserve, and although cattle grazing is not allowed in the core zone, some livestock inevitably stray inside. In 2013, at least four people and thirty to fifty cattle were killed by leopards, tigers and sloth bears. This picture shows a Bengal tigress named Maya photographed in the reserve.

Photograph credit: Stephenekka

Recently featured:

Other areas of Wikipedia

Community portal – Bulletin board, projects, resources and activities covering a wide range of Wikipedia areas.
Help desk – Ask questions about using Wikipedia.
Local embassy – For Wikipedia-related communication in languages other than English.
Reference desk – Serving as virtual librarians, Wikipedia volunteers tackle your questions on a wide range of subjects.
Site news – Announcements, updates, articles and press releases on Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Foundation.
Village pump – For discussions about Wikipedia itself, including areas for technical issues and policies.