Wikipedia:Main Page history/2011 January 17

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Today's featured article
Wintjiya Napaltjarri (born c. 1923) is a Pintupi-speaking indigenous artist from Australia's Western Desert region. She is the sister of artist Tjunkiya Napaltjarri; both were married to Toba Tjakamarra, with whom Wintjiya had five children. Wintjiya's involvement in contemporary Indigenous Australian art began in 1994 at Haasts Bluff, when she participated in a group painting project and in the creation of batik fabrics. She has also been a printmaker, using drypoint etching. Her paintings typically use an iconography that represents the eggs of the flying ant (waturnuma) and hair-string skirts (nyimparra). Her palette generally involves strong red or black against a white background. A finalist in the 2007 and 2008 National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Awards, Wintjiya's work is held in several of Australia's public collections including the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, the National Gallery of Australia and the National Gallery of Victoria. (more...) Recently featured: I. M. Pei – Moons of Saturn, Guadalcanal Campaign, and The Four Seasons – Calgary Hitmen Archive – By email – More featured articles...
Did you know...
From Wikipedia's newest articles: ... that the oil painting Interior (pictured) has been called "the most puzzling of Degas's major works"? ... that Douglas Coupland's Player One: What Is To Become Of Us is the first entry in the Massey Lectures series to be a work of fiction? ... that, following the crash of a Beechcraft Super King Air in Australia in 2000, air traffic control checklists were altered to include procedures for a flight crew incapacitated by hypoxia? ... that the Malagasy rodent Voalavo antsahabensis, which was only described as a species in 2005, is endangered because of slash-and-burn agriculture? ... that soil and ash from six Holocaust extermination camps are buried at the Oregon Holocaust Memorial in Portland, Oregon? ... that the SNCASE SE-400 was cancelled before the second prototype of the French floatplane could be completed? ... that American ice hockey goaltender Tim Regan was awarded an Olympic silver medal in 1972 despite not playing a single game and leaving the Olympics early to return to college? Archive – Start a new article – Nominate an article

In the news
The 2011 Dakar Rally (route pictured) concludes in Buenos Aires. At least 100 people are killed and another 90 injured in a stampede at Sabarimala in Kerala, India. President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali leaves Tunisia following nationwide protests and Fouad Mebazaa becomes the acting president. More than 610 people are killed by flooding and mudslides in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro. South Korea starts to cull approximately 12 percent of all domestic pigs in the country after an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. Saad Hariri-led Lebanese government falls after the opposition allies withdraw support. Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events...
On this day...
January 17: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in the United States (2011); National Day in Minorca (1287) 1524 – Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano set sail westward from Madeira to find a sea route to the Pacific Ocean. 1781 – American Revolutionary War: American forces won a surprising victory over the British at the Battle of Cowpens, one of the most pivotal battles of the war. 1945 – Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, who had saved thousands of Jews from The Holocaust, was taken into Soviet custody while in Hungary, and was never publicly seen again. 1961 – Former Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba was murdered in circumstances suggesting the support and complicity of the governments of Belgium and the United States. 1981 – President of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos (pictured) lifted martial law, eight years and five months after declaring it. More anniversaries: January 16 – January 17 – January 18 Archive – By email – List of historical anniversaries It is now January 17 2011 (UTC) – Refresh this page

Today's featured picture

A painting of Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790), one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, in London, 1767, wearing a blue suit with elaborate gold braid and buttons, a far cry from the simple dress he affected when he served as ambassador to France in later years. During his time in London, Franklin was the leading voice of American interests in England. He wrote popular essays on behalf of the colonies and was instrumental in securing the repeal of the 1765 Stamp Act. The painting was done by David Martin and is currently on display in the White House. The bust on the left side is that of Isaac Newton.

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