Wikipedia:Main Page history/2014 February 23

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From today's featured article

Jack Marsh (c. 1874 – 1916) was a first-class cricketer of Australian aboriginal descent whose career was curtailed by continual controversy surrounding the legality of his bowling action. Born into the Bundjalung people at Yulgilbar in New South Wales, he first made an impression as a professional runner before playing club cricket in Sydney. In a trial match against the New South Wales state team in 1900, he dismissed two Test cricketers but was called for throwing; he then bowled with his arm in splints to prove that his action was legitimate. Having topped the bowling averages in the local competition, Marsh was selected to make his debut in the Sheffield Shield. He made an immediate impression and led the first-class bowling averages for the season after three matches. He was no-balled in his second match and then seventeen times in his fourth match, leading to angry crowd demonstrations. Marsh only played in two more first-class matches and he was passed over for selection for Australia because of his action. Regarded as one of the outstanding talents of his era, his lack of opportunities has often been attributed to racial discrimination. (Full article...)

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From Wikipedia's new and recently improved content:

... that the Bolshoy Ice Dome (interior pictured) is scheduled to host the gold medal match of the Olympic men's ice hockey tournament today?
... that E.W. Hornung based his characters A.J. Raffles and Bunny Manders on the partnerships of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, and of Oscar Wilde and Lord Alfred Douglas?
... that the 1984 general election in Gibraltar came to be known as the "dockyard election"?
... that Ben Simons said that competing at the 2014 Winter Olympics "means the world to me"?
... that Frederic Brewster Loomis uncovered vertebrate fossils that were still exhibited at Amherst College's Beneski Museum of Natural History almost a century later?
... that The Gentlewoman campaigned against "tight-lacing"?

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In the news

Oleksandr Turchynov

Following demonstrations, the Ukrainian parliament restores the 2004 constitution and frees Yulia Tymoshenko, while Oleksandr Turchynov (pictured) becomes acting President.
Norwegian biathlete Ole Einar Bjørndalen becomes the most successful Winter Olympian in history after winning his 13th medal.
An OHCHR panel releases a report on human rights violations in North Korea.
Renaud Lavillenie of France breaks Sergey Bubka's indoor world record in pole vaulting, with a mark of 6.16 metres.
Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam announces the formation of a new government.

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On this day...

February 23: National Day in Brunei (1984); Defender of the Fatherland Day in Russia and several other former Soviet republics

1847 – Mexican–American War: The United States Army used heavy artillery to repulse the much larger Mexican army at the Battle of Buena Vista near Saltillo, Coahuila.
1885 – Sino-French War: France gained an important victory in the Battle of Đồng Đăng in the Tonkin region of what is now Vietnam.
1927 – German theoretical physicist Werner Heisenberg (pictured) wrote a letter to fellow physicist Wolfgang Pauli in which he described his uncertainty principle for the first time.
1947 – The International Organization for Standardization, responsible for worldwide industrial and commercial standards, was founded.
2007 – A Virgin Trains Pendolino express train from London Euston to Glasgow Central derailed near Grayrigg, Cumbria, UK, killing one person and injuring 22.

More anniversaries: February 22 – February 23 – February 24

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It is now February 23, 2014 (UTC) – Reload this page

Today's featured picture

A yak at Letdar on the Annapurna Circuit in the Annapurna mountain range of central Nepal. Mostly domesticated, these long-haired bovids are found throughout the Himalayan region of south Central Asia, the Tibetan Plateau and as far north as Mongolia and Russia.

Photograph: travelwayoflife

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