Wikipedia:Main Page history/2016 December 23

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From today's featured article

Richard Dannatt (born 23 December 1950) is a retired senior British Army officer who served as the Constable of the Tower of London from August 2009 to July 2016. He was commissioned into the Green Howards in 1971, and his first tour of duty was in Belfast as a platoon commander. During his second tour of duty, Dannatt was awarded the Military Cross. He commanded 4th Armoured Brigade in 1994 during its peace operations in Bosnia. In 1999 he simultaneously commanded 3rd Mechanised Division and the British forces in Kosovo. After a brief tour in Bosnia, he was appointed Assistant Chief of the General Staff. Following the attacks of 11 September 2001, Dannatt became involved in planning for subsequent operations in the Middle East. As Commander of the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps from 2003, he led the planning for their deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. He was appointed Chief of the General Staff in 2006, succeeding Sir Mike Jackson. Calling for improved pay and conditions for soldiers, less military focus on Iraq, and more on Afghanistan, Dannatt faced controversy over his outspokenness. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

Ceramic pillow in the form of a reclining girl, Jin dynasty

... that Cizhou ware was popular pottery not used by the Chinese Imperial court, and often made as ceramic pillows (example pictured)?
... that the Advent hymn "O Heiland, reiß die Himmel auf" was written against a backdrop of the Thirty Years' War, the plague, and witch trials?
... that Sadhan Gupta, elected from Calcutta South East in a 1953 by-poll, was the first blind parliamentarian in independent India?
... that Glass Buttes is a mountain group in central Oregon named for the large deposits of obsidian found on their slopes?
... that civil engineer Ernest William Moir invented the first medical airlock?
... that young Sloggett's vlei rats have several adaptations that help them cope with severe cold in winter?
... that in 2010, the association footballer Neil Alexander came on as a substitute for Queen of the South in a friendly against his own team, Rangers?
... that HMS Tartar's Prize had oversized cannons, a leaky hull, and a smoky galley, and sank in the Mediterranean when her timbers gave way?

In the news

Breitscheidplatz Christmas market

Over 30 are killed by government security forces as protests breakout across the Democratic Republic of the Congo following the end of Joseph Kabila's term in office.
An explosion at a fireworks market in Tultepec, Mexico, kills at least 32 people and injures more than 50 others.
A suspected terrorist attack kills 12 people and injures 56 others, as a stolen truck is rammed into a Christmas market (pictured) in Berlin, Germany.
Researchers measure a spectral line of antihydrogen, a type of antimatter, finding it to be identical to that of hydrogen, as predicted by the Standard Model.
More than 70 people die in Irkutsk, Russia, after drinking counterfeit bath lotion containing methanol.
The Russian ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov, is assassinated in Ankara.

On this day...

December 23: Night of the Radishes in Oaxaca City, Mexico; The Emperor's Birthday in Japan; Festivus

Coelacanth (preserved specimen)

583 – Yohl Ik'nal acceded to the throne of the Maya city-state of Palenque.
1793 – French Revolution: The Royalist counterrevolutionary army was decisively defeated in the Battle of Savenay, although fighting continued in the War in the Vendée for years afterward.
1916 – First World War: Allied forces gained a strategic victory in the Battle of Magdhaba, located in the Sinai Peninsula.
1938 – A South African fisher discovered the first living specimen of a coelacanth (pictured), long believed to be extinct.
1986 – Piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, the Rutan Voyager became the first aircraft to fly around the world without stopping or refueling, landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California after a nine-day trip.

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From today's featured list

Birmingham, Alabama

The U.S. state of Alabama contains 460 incorporated municipalities consisting of 169 cities and 291 towns. According to the 2010 United States Census, Alabama is the 23rd most populous state with 4,779,745 inhabitants and the 28th largest by land area spanning 50,645.33 square miles (131,170.8 km²) of land. The state is divided into 67 counties. The Code of Alabama 1975 defines the legal use of the terms "town" and "city" based on population. A municipality with a population of 2,000 or more is a city, while less than 2,000 is a town. For legislative purposes, municipalities are divided into eight classes based on population. Class 1 is defined as all cities with a population of 300,000. Although no cities in the state currently meet this population requirement, Birmingham (pictured) was allowed to remain a class 1 city since it incorporated with a 1970 population of 300,910 before the cutoff date of June 28, 1979. The largest municipality by population is Birmingham with 212,237 residents while the smallest by population is McMullen with 10 people. (Full list...)

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Today's featured picture

Nuremberg is a census-designated place in Schuylkill and Luzerne counties, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 434 at the 2010 census. It occupies a total area of 0.58 square miles (1.5 km²).

Photograph: Jakec

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