Wikipedia:Main Page history/2017 November 24

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From today's featured article

The black vulture (Coragyps atratus) is a bird in the New World vulture family commonly found from the southeastern United States to Central Chile and Uruguay in South America. Despite the similar name and appearance, this species is unrelated to the Eurasian black vulture, an Old World vulture in the family Accipitridae (which includes eagles, hawks, kites and harriers). The American species is the only extant member of the New World vulture genus Coragyps in the family Cathartidae. It inhabits relatively open areas near scattered forests or shrublands. With a wingspan of 1.5 m (4.9 ft), it is a large bird though relatively small for a vulture. It has black plumage, a featherless, grayish-black head and neck, and a short, hooked beak. The black vulture is a scavenger and feeds on carrion, but will also eat eggs or kill newborn animals. In areas populated by humans, it also feeds at garbage dumps. It finds its meals with its keen eyesight and sense of smell. Lacking a syrinx—the vocal organ of birds—its only vocalizations are grunts or low hisses. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

Fedwa Misk

... that Moroccan women's rights activist Fedwa Misk (pictured) named her online magazine Qandisha after a mythical jinn famous for her seductive powers?
... that in 1975, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn visited the Paris office of the YMCA Press and presented an inscribed book thanking the publisher for all his work for Russian culture with them?
... that Japanese artist and poet Chō Kōran became a specialist in ink paintings in the "Four Gentlemen" genre?
... that St. Leonhard in Frankfurt was remodeled from a Romanesque basilica to a late Gothic hall church?
... that in 1946, Flemming Helweg-Larsen became the first person executed by Denmark in more than 50 years?
... that Oireachtas Rince na Cruinne is one of six Irish stepdance competitions claiming the title of World Championships?
... that Jane Wynne taught her fellow paediatricians to identify signs of child abuse?
... that the Mekong giant earthworm can grow to a length of 2.9 metres (10 feet)?

In the news

ʻOumuamua

Robert Mugabe resigns as President of Zimbabwe following a military coup.
Scientists describe ʻOumuamua (artist's impression shown), the first known apparent interstellar object to pass through the Solar System.
In American stock car racing, Martin Truex Jr. wins the NASCAR Cup Series.
The Argentinian submarine ARA San Juan, with 44 crew on board, goes missing in the South Atlantic.
Salvator Mundi, generally attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, sells at auction for US$450.3 million, a new record for an artwork.
Borut Pahor is re-elected President of Slovenia.

On this day...

November 24

Ruby about to shoot Oswald

1542 – Anglo-Scottish Wars: England captured about 1,200 Scottish prisoners with its victory in the Battle of Solway Moss.
1642 – A Dutch expedition led by Abel Tasman reached what is now Tasmania, Australia.
1922 – Irish Civil War: Author and Irish nationalist Erskine Childers was executed by the Irish Free State for illegally carrying a semi-automatic pistol.
1963 – Businessman Jack Ruby shot and fatally wounded Lee Harvey Oswald (shooting pictured), the assassin of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, during a live television broadcast, fueling conspiracy theories on the matter.
2015 – A Turkish fighter jet shot down a Russian Sukhoi Su-24M, claiming the latter had strayed into Turkish airspace and ignored warnings to change course.

Magnús Óláfsson (d. 1265) · William Webb Ellis (b. 1806) · Anna Jarvis (d. 1948)

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From today's featured list

Imran Khan

Twenty-four five-wicket hauls were taken by Imran Khan (pictured) during his career in international cricket. Khan is a retired fast bowler who also captained Pakistan. He made his Test debut in 1971 against England at Edgbaston Cricket Ground. His first Test five-wicket haul came six years later, in 1977, against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Starting his One Day International (ODI) career in August 1974 against England at Trent Bridge, Khan's solitary ODI five-wicket haul— 6 wickets for 14 runs—came in 1985 against India in 1985 in Sharjah. In Test cricket, Khan's career-best figures for an innings were 8 wickets for 58 runs against Sri Lanka at the Gaddafi Stadium, in 1982. Khan was named as one of the five Cricketers of the Year by the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 1983, and was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in January 2009. As of October 2017, he is third in the list of five-wicket haul takers for Pakistan, all formats of the game combined. (Full list...)

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Today's featured picture

A bas-relief from Persepolis, the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire (ca. 550–330 BC) in what is now Iran, depicts a fight between a lion and a bull. This symbol has been interpreted as an expression of Nowruz (the Persian New Year), and has also been interpreted as the spring equinox, where the bull (personifying the Earth) and lion (personifying the Sun) fight eternally, symbolizing their equality.

Photograph: Anatoly Terentiev

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