Wikipedia:Main Page history/2011 July 29

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Today's featured article
The English poet Christopher Smart was confined to mental asylums from 1757 until 1763. Smart was admitted into St Luke's Hospital for Lunatics on 6 May 1757. While in St Luke's he wrote Jubilate Agno and A Song to David, the poems considered to be his greatest works. Although many of his contemporaries agreed that Smart was "mad", accounts of his condition and its ramifications varied, and some felt that he had been committed unfairly. Smart was diagnosed as "incurable" while at St Luke's, and when they ran out of funds for his care he was moved to Mr Potter's asylum. Smart's isolation led him to abandon the poetic genres of the 18th century that had marked his earlier work, and to write religious poetry. His asylum poetry reveals a desire for "unmediated revelation", and it is possible that the self-evaluation found in his poetry represents an expression of evangelical Christianity. Late 18th-century critics felt that Smart's madness justified them in ignoring his A Song to David, but during the following century Robert Browning and his contemporaries considered his condition to be the source of his genius. It was not until the 20th century that critics reconsidered Smart's case and began to see him as a revolutionary poet. (more...) Recently featured: Jack L. Warner – Point Park Civic Center – Albert Stanley, 1st Baron Ashfield Archive – By email – More featured articles...
Did you know...
From Wikipedia's newest content: ... that former Illinois First Lady Lura Lynn Ryan organized schoolchildren to collect pennies for the construction of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (pictured), raising $47,000? ... that Cissus quadrangularis is significant to the Fali people, with the Fali reported to wash their dead in a decoction of the plant? ... that English artist William Lakin Turner is not related to the famous artist, Turner, but he is a close relative of "Derbyshire's John Constable"? ... that the scientist Rainer Froese is the coauthor and coordinator of FishBase, an extensive online information system on fish? ... that the Middle Georgia Raceway, featured on a 2011 Dodge Durango commercial, was the location of a 300,000-person concert in which artists including Jimi Hendrix performed? ... that table tennis world champion Gertrude Kleinová's first husband was the chairman of her table tennis division, and her second husband was her coach? ... that The Old Lady and the Pigeons lost the Oscar but won the Genie? Archive – Start a new article – Nominate an article

In the news
Cadel Evans Asteroid 2010 TK7 is confirmed as the first Earth trojan asteroid discovered. Truong Tan Sang becomes the new President of Vietnam and nominates Nguyen Tan Dung to another term as Prime Minister. In cycling, Cadel Evans (pictured) wins the 2011 Tour de France, becoming the first Australian Tour de France winner. Protests against rising house prices in Israel continue, with thousands gathering in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Thousands of protesters encounter violence while marching toward the Egyptian Ministry of Defense in Cairo. Singer Amy Winehouse is found dead at her London home. Arab Spring – Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events...
On this day...
July 29: Ólavsøka in the Faroe Islands 1014 – Byzantine–Bulgarian Wars: Forces of the Byzantine Empire defeated troops of the Bulgarian Empire at the Battle of Kleidion in the Belasica Mountains near present-day Klyuch, Bulgaria. 1693 – Nine Years' War: France won a pyrrhic victory over the Allied forces of William III of England at the Battle of Landen in present-day Neerwinden, Belgium. 1836 – The Arc de Triomphe (pictured) in Paris, commemorating those who fought and died for France in the French Revolutionary and the Napoleonic Wars, was formally inaugurated. 1967 – Vietnam War: During preparation for another strike in the Gulf of Tonkin, the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal was hit by a series of chain-reaction explosions caused by an unusual electrical anomaly on its flight deck, killing 134 sailors and injuring 161 others. 1987 – Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Sri Lankan President J.R. Jayewardene signed the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to resolve the ongoing Sri Lankan Civil War. More anniversaries: July 28 – July 29 – July 30 Archive – By email – List of historical anniversaries It is now July 29, 2011 (UTC) – Refresh this page

Today's featured picture

The village of Kingswear, located in the South Hams area of the English county of Devon, as seen from across the River Dart in Dartmouth. It is mostly noted as being the railhead for Dartmouth, a role it continues to this day as the terminus for the the Paignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway, a seasonally operated heritage railway.

Photo: Herbythyme

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