Wikipedia:Main Page history/2016 February 15

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From today's featured article

Chester A. Arthur (1829–1886) was the 21st President of the United States, from 1881 to 1885. After practicing law in New York City, he served as quartermaster general in the New York Militia during the American Civil War. Rising quickly in the Republican political machine run by Senator Roscoe Conkling, he was appointed to the lucrative post of Collector of the Port of New York in 1871. In 1878 the new president, Rutherford B. Hayes, fired Arthur as part of a reform measure. When James Garfield won the Republican nomination for president in 1880, Arthur was nominated for vice president to balance the ticket. After Garfield's assassination, Arthur took up the cause of reform, supporting the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act. He presided over the rebirth of the U.S. Navy but was criticized for failing to alleviate a growing federal budget surplus. Suffering from poor health, Arthur retired at the close of his term. Journalist Alexander McClure later wrote, "No man ever entered the Presidency so profoundly and widely distrusted as Chester Alan Arthur, and no one ever retired ... more generally respected, alike by political friend and foe." (Full article...)

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Did you know...

Arnos Park Viaduct

... that the 34 arches of the Arnos Park Viaduct (pictured) allowed the extension of the Piccadilly line to Cockfosters?
... that For John is a tribute album to a disc jockey from Buffalo, New York, recorded by indie pop band Library Voices from Regina, Saskatchewan?
... that the pre-3rd century CE Shandilya Upanishad text describes eight postures of Yoga to cleanse the body and two types of meditation?
... that for the production of Avengers: Infinity War, the films will be the first to be shot entirely using IMAX cameras and its exclusive aspect ratio?
... that Queen Elizabeth II's glovemaker, Cornelia James, was accepted by the art college that rejected Adolf Hitler?
... that Alexander Rossi became the first American to drive at a Formula One race at the Circuit of the Americas when he entered the 2015 United States Grand Prix?
... that Romona Robinson won a television news anchor job in Cleveland, Ohio, with a demo tape that showed her remaining poised and self-confident while "being wiped out by a hurricane-whipped wave"?
... that in 1955, two girls fainted at an election rally in Glasgow for Unionist candidate William Grant?

In the news

Von Miller

Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill sign an Ecumenical Declaration in the first such meeting since the East–West Schism in 1054.
Scientists using the LIGO detector announce the first direct observation of gravitational waves.
Eleven people are killed in a head-on collision between two passenger trains near Bad Aibling, Germany.
In American football, the Denver Broncos defeat the Carolina Panthers to win Super Bowl 50 (MVP Von Miller pictured).
A 6.4-magnitude earthquake strikes Taiwan, killing 116 people.

Ongoing events:
- Zika virus outbreak
- European migrant crisis
Recent deaths:

On this day...

February 15: National Day in Serbia (1804); Washington's Birthday (Presidents' Day) in the United States (2016)

DEW Line radar station

1898 – The United States Navy battleship USS Maine exploded and sank in Havana, Cuba, killing more than 260 people and precipitating the Spanish–American War.
1900 – Second Boer War: British cavalry under Major-General John French defeated Boer forces to end a 124-day siege of Kimberley, present-day South Africa.
1954 – The Canadian and American governments agreed to jointly build the Distant Early Warning Line (DEW Line), a line of radar stations running across the high Arctic (radar station pictured).
1976 – The current Constitution of Cuba, providing for a system of government and law based on those of the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc countries, was adopted by a national referendum.
2003 – In one of the largest anti-war rallies in history, millions around the world in approximately 800 cities took part in protests against the impending invasion of Iraq.

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From today's featured list

Alison Krauss

The Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals was an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to quality country music collaborations for artists who do not normally perform together. Honors in several categories are presented at the ceremony annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position". Originally called the Best Country Vocal Performance, Duet, the award was first presented to Kenny Rogers and Ronnie Milsap at the 30th Grammy Awards in 1988 for the single "Make No Mistake, She's Mine". Alison Krauss (pictured) holds the record for having the most wins in this category, with a total of five. She is followed by seven others, who have all won the award twice. Among the most nominated are Emmylou Harris and Willie Nelson, both nine-time nominees. (Full list...)

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The Jefferson Memorial is a presidential memorial in Washington, D.C. designed by the architect John Russell Pope and built by the Philadelphia contractor John McShain from 1939 to 1943. It is dedicated to Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), one of the most important of the American Founding Fathers and the nation's third president. It is managed by the National Park Service.

Photograph: Joe Ravi

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