Wikipedia:Main Page history/2019 January 29

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From today's featured article

Antlia (from Latin for "pump") is a constellation in the southern celestial hemisphere. It was established by Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille in the 18th century, and its name was later abbreviated from "Antlia Pneumatica" by John Herschel. Completely visible from latitudes south of 49 degrees north, it is close to the stars forming the old constellation of the ship Argo Navis. Antlia is a faint constellation; its brightest star is Alpha Antliae, an orange giant that is a suspected variable star, ranging between apparent magnitudes 4.22 and 4.29. S Antliae is an eclipsing binary star system, changing in brightness as one star passes in front of the other; sharing a common envelope, the stars are so close they will one day merge to form a single star. Two star systems with known exoplanets, HD 93083 and WASP-66, lie within Antlia, as do NGC 2997, a spiral galaxy, and the Antlia Dwarf Galaxy. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

The Duke of Windsor inspecting German troops in 1937

... that during the Duke and Duchess of Windsor's 1937 tour of Germany (pictured), their alcoholic chaperone Robert Ley crashed them at speed through a factory gate?
... that catwalk model Michelle Leslie claimed police in Bali, Indonesia, planted two ecstasy tablets in her handbag and then asked for a US$25,000 bribe to avoid conviction?
... that the jellyfish Sanderia malayensis has a life cycle that includes a number of different types of asexual reproduction?
... that Meghan Trainor canceled several dates on the MTrain Tour after suffering a vocal cord hemorrhage?
... that rivalries encourage people to take more risks and behave less ethically?
... that the BBC head of drama stated that the Slater family in EastEnders was created to address a deficit of "solid families" in the soap?
... that actress Naomi Watts is honorary president of the Welsh football club Glantraeth F.C.?
... that the 18th-century Chinese short story "Three Lives" was adapted into a 2016 play featuring hip hop and a live band?

In the news

Aftermath of the Brumadinho dam collapse

Two bombs at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Jolo, Philippines, kill at least eighteen people and leave more than eighty others injured.
A mining dam collapses (aftermath pictured) in Brumadinho, Brazil, leaving more than sixty people dead and hundreds of others missing.
More than sixty people are killed in flooding across South Sulawesi, Indonesia.

On this day

January 29

"The Raven", illustrated by John Tenniel

"The Raven" illustration
by John Tenniel

1814 – War of the Sixth Coalition: In the Battle of Brienne, both commanders of the opposing forces, Napoleon and Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, were nearly captured by their enemies.
1845 – American poet Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" (illustration shown) appeared in The Evening Mirror, its first publication attributed to Poe.
1959 – The first Melodifestivalen, an annual Swedish music competition that determines the country's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest, was held in Stockholm.
2009 – The Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt ruled that people who did not adhere to one of the three government-recognised religions are also eligible to receive government identity documents.

Emanuel Swedenborg (b. 1688) · Mary Whitwell Hale (b. 1810) · Jean-Marie Doré (d. 2016)

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Today's featured picture

A Philosopher Lecturing on the Orrery is a painting by Joseph Wright of Derby depicting a lecturer giving a demonstration of an orrery to a small audience. The painting broke with tradition in depicting the awe produced by scientific "miracles", while previous artistic depiction of such wonder was reserved for religious events. It is in the permanent collection of the Derby Museum and Art Gallery.

Painting: Joseph Wright of Derby

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