Wikipedia:Main Page history/2019 December 17

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From today's featured article

The Gascon campaign of 1345, part of the Hundred Years' War, was fought between August and November in English-controlled Gascony in south-west France. Henry, Earl of Derby, commanding an Anglo-Gascon force, met a large French force at Bergerac, east of Bordeaux, and decisively defeated it. He moved to besiege the provincial capital of Périgueux, but was threatened by a much larger force commanded by John, Duke of Normandy, the son and heir of the French king. Derby withdrew and left garrisons blockading Périgueux, including one at Auberoche, which the French besieged. He returned with a small force, launched a surprise attack against the greatly superior French, and won another decisive victory, killing or capturing all of the French leaders. This campaign was the first successful English land campaign of the war; morale and prestige swung their way in the border regions of Gascony, providing an influx of taxes and army recruits, and several important regional towns went over to them. (This article is part of a featured topic: Gascon campaign of 1345.)

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Did you know ...

Ashvamedha horse, depicted on a gold coin

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... that English scientist Nicola Curtin donated to charity the £865,000 she received for helping develop the cancer drug Rubraca?
... that Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie was personally present at the Rue Sainte-Catherine Roundup?
... that Berna Gözbaşı is the first woman president of a football club playing in the Turkish top-level men's league?
... that 17 extensions and modifications of the construction permit were necessary before Hawaii radio station KFSH went on the air in 1985, more than eight years after the permit was awarded?
... that Jacques Durand studied at the Conservatoire de Paris together with Claude Debussy, and later published both Debussy's compositions and his edition of Chopin's piano works?
... that Coelopa pilipes fly populations can live at temperatures of 40 °C (104 °F) within piles of kelp, even in areas covered with snow and ice?
... that Ms. Monopoly replaces properties with inventions women contributed to, such as Wi-Fi, chocolate chip cookies, and modern shapewear?

In the news

Protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act

In India, at least six people are killed and many others are arrested in protests (pictured) against a law on citizenship for migrants.
The Conservatives, led by Boris Johnson, win a majority of seats in the UK general election.
After a three-day search, the crash site of a Chilean military aircraft is located with no survivors among the thirty-eight people onboard.
In a non-binding referendum, Bougainville votes for independence from Papua New Guinea.

On this day

December 17

Wright Flyer

1790 – The Aztec sun stone, now a modern symbol of Mexican culture, was excavated in the Zócalo, the main square of Mexico City.
1903 – Aboard the Wright Flyer (pictured) in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville and Wilbur Wright conducted the first successful flights of a powered fixed-wing aircraft.
1939 – World War II: After sustaining heavy damage in the Battle of the River Plate two days earlier, the commander of the German cruiser Admiral Graf Spee decided to scuttle the ship rather than allow its capture by British forces.
1989 – The Simpsons, the longest-ever running American prime-time entertainment series, made its debut on the Fox television network with the episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire".
2009 – The livestock transport ship MV Danny F II capsized and sank in bad weather off the coast of Lebanon, resulting in 43 human and more than 28,000 sheep and cattle deaths.

Domenico Cimarosa (b. 1749) · Willard Libby (b. 1908) · Eva Ekvall (d. 2011)

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Today's featured picture

Maria I (17 December 1734 – 20 March 1816) was Queen of Portugal from 1777 until her death in 1816 and the country's first undisputed queen regnant.

This picture is an oil-on-canvas portrait, painted in 1783, showing the queen in her boudoir. It is usually attributed to Giuseppe Troni, the Italian court painter to the House of Braganza, and now hangs in the Palace of Queluz, which became the official and full-time residence of the queen and her court from 1794. At that time, the queen was becoming increasingly deranged. In 1807, after Napoleon's conquests in Europe, under the direction of her son, Prince Regent João, her court moved to Brazil. The Portuguese colony was then elevated to the rank of kingdom, with the consequent formation of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves, of which she was the first monarch.

Painting credit: Giuseppe Troni (attributed)

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