Wikipedia:Main Page history/2015 August 1

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Preparing for a Fancy Dress Ball is an oil painting by English artist William Etty. Although he was then known almost exclusively for history paintings featuring nude figures, he was commissioned in 1833 by Welsh Conservative politician Charles Williams-Wynn to paint a portrait of two of his daughters. Charlotte, the eldest, is shown standing, helping the seated Mary decorate her hair with a ribbon and a rose, both in lavish Italian-style costume. Etty put a good deal of effort into the piece and took much longer than usual to finish it, first exhibiting it at the 1835 Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. Generally well received, even by critics usually hostile to Etty, it demonstrated that he was both capable of high-quality work and deserving of patronage by the English elite, and the success led to further commissions. It remained in the collection of Mary Williams-Wynn's descendants and was not shown publicly for 160 years, other than in an 1849 retrospective exhibition. In 2009 it was acquired by the York Art Gallery, where it now forms part of a major collection of Etty's work. (Full article...)

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Eadwine at work

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In the news

A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

Beijing is selected by the International Olympic Committee as host city of the 2022 Winter Olympics.
The Taliban confirms that its former leader, Mohammed Omar, died in April 2013.
Scientist and former President of India A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (pictured) dies at the age of 83.
In cycling, Chris Froome wins the Tour de France for a second time.
Pierre Nkurunziza is re-elected president of Burundi for a third term.
After a suicide bombing in Suruç that killed 32 people, Turkey launches airstrikes against ISIL and Kurdistan Workers' Party camps in Iraq.

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Recent deaths:
- Edward Natapei
- Flora MacDonald

On this day...

August 1: Lughnasadh (Northern Hemisphere); Imbolc (Southern Hemisphere); Independence Day in Benin (1960); Lammas in England and Scotland

Mosaic of Justinian the Great

527 – Upon the death of Justin I, Justinian the Great (pictured) became the sole ruler of the Byzantine Empire.
1715 – Introduced during a time of civil disturbance in Great Britain, the Riot Act came into force, authorising authorities to declare any group of twelve or more people to be unlawfully assembled.
1801 – First Barbary War: The American schooner USS Enterprise captured the Tripolitan polacca Tripoli in a single-ship action off the coast of modern-day Libya.
1981 – The American cable television network MTV, the first dedicated video-based outlet for music, made its debut with the music video for the song "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles.
2009 – A shooting attack at the Gay and Lesbian Association building in Tel-Aviv, Israel, resulted in the deaths of two people.

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Today's featured picture

Wrestlers is an oil painting on canvas completed by Thomas Eakins in 1899. It depicts two nearly naked men engaged in a wrestling match, with one holding the other in a half nelson and crotch hold. Eakins painted the work using a photograph of models as a study; for the background, he used the Quaker City Barge Club on Philadelphia's Boathouse Row. This painting, as well as an oil sketch, are held at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; an unfinished version is held by the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Painting: Thomas Eakins

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