Wikipedia:Main Page history/2013 January 25

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From today's featured article

Pinguicula moranensis is a perennial rosette-forming insectivorous herb native to Mexico and Guatemala. A species of butterwort, it forms summer rosettes of flat, succulent leaves up to 10 centimeters (4 in) long, which are covered in mucilaginous (sticky) glands that attract, trap, and digest arthropod prey. Nutrients derived from the prey are used to supplement the nutrient-poor substrate in which the plant grows. In the winter the plant forms a non-carnivorous rosette of small, fleshy leaves that conserves energy while food and moisture supplies are low. Single pink, purple, or violet flowers appear twice a year on upright stalks up to 25 centimeters (10 in) long. The species was first collected by Humboldt and Bonpland on the outskirts of Mina de Morán in the Sierra de Pachuca of the modern-day Mexican state of Hidalgo on their Latin American expedition of 1799–1804. Based on these collections, Humboldt, Bonpland and Carl Sigismund Kunth described this species in Nova Genera et Species Plantarum in 1817. It remains the most common and most widely distributed member of the Section Orcheosanthus, and has long been cultivated for its carnivorous nature and attractive flowers. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

From Wikipedia's newest content:

... that in the 2012 Race of Champions, driver Romain Grosjean (pictured) won the Champions of Champions title, while Germany won their sixth consecutive Nations Cup?

... that woodcarver Abel Schrøder, who crafted the altarpieces for the churches of Vester Egesborg, Undløse, and St Martin's, was also St Martin's organist?

... that the Christina Aguilera and Cee Lo Green song "Make the World Move" features a "bonkers arrangement"?

... that despite covering the works of a Christian theologian, the Thomas Aquinas Dictionary does not contain entries for "Redemption", "Incarnation" or "Trinity"?

... that the "Dima Yakovlev Law" forbidding American parents from adopting Russian children was named after a Russian toddler who died after his adoptive American father left him in a car for nine hours?

... that mountaineer Ian McKeever climbed the 26 peaks of the island of Ireland in 98 hours?

... that Detroit's population increased over 1,000 times between 1820 and 1930?

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In the news

The Likud Yisrael Beiteinu alliance, led by incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (pictured), wins a plurality in the Israeli legislative election.

After hundreds of workers are taken hostage in an attack at a gas facility near In Aménas, Algeria, a raid by Algerian forces results in dozens of fatalities.

Boeing 787 aircraft are grounded worldwide over concerns about the safety of their lithium-ion batteries.

Sri Lankan Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake is dismissed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa following her contested impeachment.

Recent deaths: Józef Glemp – Taihō Kōki – Stan Musial

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On this day...

January 25: Feast Day of Gregory of Nazianzus (Eastern Orthodox Church); Burns Night (Scots culture); Dydd Santes Dwynwen in Wales

1576 – Portuguese explorer Paulo Dias de Novais (pictured) founded the settlement of São Paulo da Assumpção de Loanda on the western coast of Africa, now known as Luanda.

1704 – English colonists from the Province of Carolina and their native allies began a series of brutal raids against a largely pacific population of Apalachee in Spanish Florida.

1949 – The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences presented the first Emmy Awards to honor excellence in the American television industry.

1993 – Five people were shot outside the Central Intelligence Agency headquarters in Langley, Virginia, resulting in two deaths.

2010 – Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409, en route to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, crashed into the Mediterranean Sea shortly after takeoff from Beirut, Lebanon, killing all 90 people aboard.

More anniversaries: January 24 – January 25 – January 26

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It is now January 25, 2013 (UTC) – Refresh this page

Today's featured picture

The Thames Barrier, the world's second-largest movable flood barrier, as seen from Silvertown on the north bank of the River Thames during normal operation, looking across to New Charlton. The barrier is located downstream of central London and is meant to prevent London from being flooded by exceptionally high tides and storm surges moving up from the sea. It needs to be raised (closed) only during high tide; at ebb tide it can be lowered to release the water that backs up behind it.

Photo: David Iliff

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