Wikipedia:Main Page history/2015 January 13

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From today's featured article

The garden warbler (Sylvia borin) is a common small bird that breeds in most of Europe and in western Asia. It is a plain, long-winged and long-tailed typical warbler with brown upperparts and dull white underparts; the sexes are similar and juveniles resemble the adults. The garden warbler's rich melodic song is similar to that of the blackcap, its closest relative, which competes with it for territory when nesting in the same woodland. The preferred breeding habitat in Eurasia is open woodland with dense low cover for nesting; despite its name, gardens are rarely occupied by this small passerine bird. The clutch of four or five blotched cream or white eggs is laid in a robust cup-shaped nest built near the ground and concealed by dense vegetation. The chicks fledge about 10 days after hatching, and only about a quarter of young birds survive their first year. The species winters in sub-Saharan Africa. Insects are the main food in the breeding season, although fruit predominates when birds are fattening prior to migration, figs being a particular favourite where available. Predators include Eurasian sparrowhawks and domestic cats. Despite a small population decline in much of its European range, the bird's breeding distribution is expanding northwards in Scandinavia. (Full article...)

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From Wikipedia's new and recently improved content:

... that the truncated spire of St Paul's Church, Seacombe (pictured during reconstruction) was restored to its original height using a stainless-steel frame?
... that in the 1960s, Inuit musician Willie Thrasher formed Inuvik's first rock 'n' roll band?
... that several other nations also expressed their interest in participating in Combined Task Force 150 in some way when a Pakistani admiral took its command?
... that approximately 28,000 topographic names were changed from their native names to new Turkified renditions under various government policies?
... that George Billman found that an infusion of omega-3 fatty acids prevented ventricular fibrillation in dogs otherwise susceptible to it?
... that the Western Australian shrub Lechenaultia formosa is renowned for its red, orange, or yellow flowers?
... that Galadriel Stineman is named after the elven queen in The Lord of the Rings?

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In the news

Sixty-nine people die after drinking contaminated beer at a funeral in Mozambique.
More than three million people, including dozens of world leaders, march for unity in France following the Charlie Hebdo shooting.
Maithripala Sirisena is elected President of Sri Lanka.
A new antibiotic for drug-resistant infections, teixobactin, is extracted from soil bacteria using a novel technique.
Attacks by Boko Haram on the Nigerian town of Baga leave hundreds of people dead and more than 35,000 displaced.
Archaeologists announce the discovery of the tomb of Khentakawess III, a previously unknown ancient Egyptian queen.

Ongoing: Ebola outbreak – Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
Recent deaths: Anita Ekberg – Edward Brooke – Mario Cuomo

On this day...

January 13: St. Knut's Day in Finland and Sweden

896 – Emperor Zhaozong appointed Li Keyong as the Prince of Jin, who began his reign as first emperor of Jin following the collapse of the Tang Dynasty in China.
1815 – War of 1812: British troops captured Fort Peter in St. Marys, Georgia, the only battle of the war to take place in the state.
1898 – "J'accuse...!", an open letter by French writer Émile Zola (pictured) to President Félix Faure of the French Republic, was published by the Parisian newspaper L'Aurore, accusing the highest levels of the French Army in covering up the truth of the Dreyfus affair.
1915 – About 30,000 people in Avezzano, Italy—96% of its population—were killed when an earthquake struck the region.
1972 – Ignatius Kutu Acheampong led a coup d'état to overthrow Prime Minister Kofi Abrefa Busia and President Edward Akufo-Addo of Ghana.

More anniversaries: January 12 – January 13 – January 14

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Today's featured picture

The Pearl and the Wave is an oil painting on canvas completed by Paul-Jacques-Aimé Baudry in 1862 which depicts a nude woman lying on the edge of a rocky shore as waves break around her. It was an object of curiosity when exhibited, and the artist Kenyon Cox described it as "the perfect nude". More recently, however, it has been described as voyeuristic. In 1863 the painting was purchased by Empress consort Eugénie de Montijo. It is now in the Museo del Prado in Madrid, Spain.

Painting: Paul-Jacques-Aimé Baudry

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