Wikipedia:Main Page history/2011 February 25

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Today's featured article
Rinaldo is an opera by George Frideric Handel composed in 1711, and was the first Italian language opera written specifically for the London stage. The libretto was prepared by Giacomo Rossi from a scenario provided by Aaron Hill, and the work was first performed at the Queen's Theatre in London's Haymarket on 24 February 1711. The story of love, battle and redemption set at the time of the First Crusade is loosely based on Torquato Tasso's epic poem Gerusalemme liberata ("Jerusalem Delivered"), and its staging involved many original and vivid effects. It was a great success with the public, despite negative reactions from literary critics hostile to the contemporary trend towards Italian entertainment in English theatres. Rinaldo was the most frequently performed of all Handel's musical dramas during his lifetime. However, after 1731 the opera was not staged for more than 200 years. Following a successful run at New York's Metropolitan Opera in 1984, performances and recordings of the work have become more frequent worldwide. Despite the lack of a standard edition, with its spectacular vocal and orchestral passages Rinaldo has been cited as one of Handel's greatest operas. Of its individual numbers the soprano aria "Lascia ch'io pianga" has become a particular favourite and is a popular concert piece. (more...) Recently featured: HMS Indefatigable – To the People of Texas & All Americans in the World – Evolutionary history of lemurs Archive – By email – More featured articles...
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From Wikipedia's newest articles: ... that during his United States Army service, Graciela replaced her foster brother Machito (pictured) as the lead singer of his band, the Afro-Cubans? ... that physical chemist Sir Eric Keightly Rideal was depicted in the novels The Search and Strangers and Brothers written by his former student, C. P. Snow? ... that the PERISCOP made it possible to retrieve live fish from over 2,000 m (6,600 ft) deep, despite the extreme pressure at that depth? ... that 19-year-old Medal of Honor recipient Albert Sale received the award for killing an Apache warrior in hand-to-hand combat and taking his war pony? ... that St Gallgo's Church, Llanallgo, Wales, was used as a temporary mortuary following the 1859 wreck of the Royal Charter, which claimed over 400 lives? ... that Ethiopian long-distance runner Sentayehu Ejigu won medals at World, African and Continental-level competitions in 2010? ... that the British destroyer HMS Grenade tied up to the French destroyer Bison on 3 May 1940 to rescue 36 survivors after the latter's forward magazine was bombed by a Junkers Ju 87 dive bomber and exploded? Archive – Start a new article – Nominate an article

In the news
STS-133 mission poster STS-133 (mission poster pictured), the final flight of Space Shuttle Discovery, is launched from the Kennedy Space Center. An Indian court convicts 31 people of perpetrating the 2002 Godhra train burning, which led to communal riots in Gujarat. Behgjet Pacolli is elected President of Kosovo. A 6.3-magnitude earthquake hits Christchurch and the surrounding Canterbury Region in New Zealand, causing major damage and more than 100 deaths. Protests in Libya spread to Tripoli, as the government uses warplanes and mercenaries to attack the protesters. In stock car racing, Trevor Bayne becomes the youngest driver to win the Daytona 500. Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events...
On this day...
February 25: Soviet Occupation Day in Georgia (1921); National Day in Kuwait (1950); EDSA Revolution Anniversary in the Philippines (1986) 138 – Roman Emperor Hadrian adopted Antoninus Pius as his son and successor, after the death of his first adopted son Lucius Aelius. 1570 – Pope Pius V issued the papal bull Regnans in Excelsis to excommunicate Queen Elizabeth I and her followers in the Church of England. 1870 – Representing Mississippi in the Senate, Hiram Rhodes Revels (pictured) became the first African American to serve in the United States Congress. 1956 – In his speech On the Personality Cult and its Consequences to the 20th Party Congress, Soviet Leader Nikita Khrushchev denounced the personality cult and dictatorship of his predecessor Joseph Stalin. 1994 – Israeli physician Baruch Goldstein opened fire on Muslim Arabs praying at the mosque in Hebron's Cave of the Patriarchs, killing 29 people and wounding 125 others. More anniversaries: February 24 – February 25 – February 26 Archive – By email – List of historical anniversaries It is now February 25 2011 (UTC) – Refresh this page

Today's featured picture

The Brown Treecreeper (Climacteris picumnus) is the largest species of treecreeper. It is endemic to forests and woodlands of the Great Dividing Range in eastern Australia. As the name implies, its colour is pale brown to grey-brown, with black streaking on the underparts and black bars on the undertail, with almost no sexual dimorphism. Although the International Union for Conservation of Nature considers the Brown Treecreeper a "Least Concern" species, one subspecies found in New South Wales is rated threatened by Australian authorities.

Photo: Fir0002

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