Wikipedia:Main Page history/2023 November 4
From today's featured article
Dark Archives is a book by the medical librarian and death-positive advocate Megan Rosenbloom. It focuses on anthropodermic bibliopegy, the binding of books in human skin (reported example pictured). In Dark Archives, Rosenbloom discusses such books and their historical, ethical, and cultural implications. She analyses how the practice's rise and fall reflects changing attitudes towards consent, ownership, and disposal of human bodies, and how its history intertwines with the history of medical ethics as a field. Rosenbloom examines notable books bound in human skin and their origins, and interviews librarians, archivists, collectors, and experts on the topic. Though Rosenbloom supports the preservation and maintenance of anthropodermic books, Dark Archives also covers arguments to the contrary. The book was published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in 2020; critics praised it for its thorough research, clear writing, and enthusiasm for rare books and their history. (Full article...)
Did you know ...
- ... that although the 1950 Mexican film Un día de vida (pamphlet pictured) bombed with domestic audiences, it became a classic in Yugoslavia?
- ... that They Might Be Giants sang in Simlish on the soundtrack for The Sims 2: FreeTime?
- ... that when she was elected to the New Zealand parliament, Catherine Wedd defeated her former coworker at a marketing company?
- ... that the Seabury Tredwell House, now a museum, is Manhattan's only remaining 19th-century house with its original furnishings?
- ... that scholars have argued over whether the Aineta aryballos depicts a goddess, a dancer, or a prostitute?
- ... that Hanthawaddy commander Smin Ye-Thin-Yan captured Donwun by deceiving his blood brother?
- ... that French bread is not from France?
In the news
- American entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried (pictured) is convicted on charges of fraud and money laundering over his role in the bankruptcy of cryptocurrency exchange FTX.
- NASA's Lucy space probe flies by the asteroid Dinkinesh, the first target of the mission.
- In baseball, the Texas Rangers defeat the Arizona Diamondbacks to win the World Series.
- In motorsport, Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen win the World Rally Championship.
On this day
November 4: National Unity and Armed Forces Day in Italy (1918)
- 1864 – American Civil War: Nathan Bedford Forrest led a cavalry division in an attack on a Union Army supply base at Johnsonville, Tennessee, resulting in the capture of 150 prisoners.
- 1921 – The remains of an unknown soldier were buried with an eternal flame at the Altare della Patria (pictured) in Rome.
- 1952 – Robert A. Lovett, United States Secretary of Defense, issued a memorandum establishing the National Security Agency, with responsibility for all communications intelligence for the government.
- 1995 – Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by Yigal Amir, a right-wing extremist, at a peace rally at Kings of Israel Square in Tel Aviv.
- 2010 – In the first aviation incident involving an Airbus A380, Qantas Flight 32 suffered an uncontained engine failure and made an emergency landing at Changi Airport in Singapore with no casualties.
- Mary, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange (b. 1631)
- Antoine Le Maistre (d. 1658)
- Matthew McConaughey (b. 1969)
- Elsie MacGill (d. 1980)
Today's featured picture
|
Ruth Handler (November 4, 1916 – April 27, 2002) was an American businesswoman who created the fashion doll Barbie in 1959. With her husband Elliot Handler, she co-founded the toy manufacturer Mattel in 1945 and served as its first president for thirty years. Handler got the idea for Barbie from German Bild Lilli dolls, which were based on the West German comic strip Lilli. Handler noticed that her daughter Barbara enjoyed giving toys adult roles; at the time, most children's dolls were infants. Handler designed the new doll with the help of Jack Ryan and named the doll "Barbie" after her daughter. She also later designed the doll Ken, which she named after her son. This photograph taken in 1961 depicts Handler with Barbie and Ken dolls, as well as other Mattel products. Photograph credit: unknown; restored by Adam Cuerden
Recently featured:
|
Other areas of Wikipedia
- Community portal – The central hub for editors, with resources, links, tasks, and announcements.
- Village pump – Forum for discussions about Wikipedia itself, including policies and technical issues.
- Site news – Sources of news about Wikipedia and the broader Wikimedia movement.
- Teahouse – Ask basic questions about using or editing Wikipedia.
- Help desk – Ask questions about using or editing Wikipedia.
- Reference desk – Ask research questions about encyclopedic topics.
- Content portals – A unique way to navigate the encyclopedia.
Wikipedia's sister projects
Wikipedia is written by volunteer editors and hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation, a non-profit organization that also hosts a range of other volunteer projects:
-
Commons
Free media repository -
MediaWiki
Wiki software development -
Meta-Wiki
Wikimedia project coordination -
Wikibooks
Free textbooks and manuals -
Wikidata
Free knowledge base -
Wikinews
Free-content news -
Wikiquote
Collection of quotations -
Wikisource
Free-content library -
Wikispecies
Directory of species -
Wikiversity
Free learning tools -
Wikivoyage
Free travel guide -
Wiktionary
Dictionary and thesaurus
Wikipedia languages
This Wikipedia is written in English. Many other Wikipedias are available; some of the largest are listed below.
-
1,000,000+ articles
-
250,000+ articles
-
50,000+ articles