Wikipedia:Main Page history/2017 August 28

From today's featured article

W. E. B. Du Bois (1868–1963) was an American sociologist, historian and civil rights activist. The first African American to earn a doctorate from Harvard, he became a professor of history, sociology and economics at Atlanta University. He rose to national prominence as the leader of the Niagara Movement, a group of African-American activists who wanted equal rights for blacks, and was one of the co-founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909. He wrote one of the first scientific treatises in the field of American sociology, and published three autobiographies. Black Reconstruction in America (1935) challenged the prevailing orthodoxy that blacks were responsible for the failures of the Reconstruction Era. On August 28, 1963, a day after his death, his book The Souls of Black Folk was highlighted by Roy Wilkins at the March on Washington, and hundreds of thousands of marchers honored him with a moment of silence. A year later, the US Civil Rights Act, embodying many of the reforms for which he had campaigned his entire life, was enacted. (Full article...)

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Hurricane Harvey on August 25

The Women's Rugby World Cup concludes with New Zealand defeating England in the final.
Hurricane Harvey (satellite image pictured) makes landfall in Texas, causing severe flooding and at least 8 fatalities.
At least 36 people are killed in riots in Northern India after guru Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh is convicted of rape.
Typhoon Hato strikes South China and Vietnam, killing at least 26 people.
The Supreme Court of India rules that the practice of instant divorce is unconstitutional.

August 28: Qixi Festival (Chinese calendar, 2017); National Heroes' Day in the Philippines (2017)

Martin Luther King giving his "I have a dream" speech

1789 – With the first use of his new 1.2 m (3.9 ft) telescope, then the largest in the world, William Herschel discovered a new moon of Saturn, which was later named Enceladus.
1830 – Tom Thumb, the first American-built steam locomotive, engaged in an impromptu race against a horse-drawn car in Maryland.
1914 – In the first naval battle of the First World War, British ships ambushed a German naval patrol in the Heligoland Bight area of the North Sea.
1924 – An unsuccessful insurrection against Soviet rule in the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, known as the August Uprising, began.
1963 – During a large political rally in Washington, D.C., Martin Luther King Jr. (pictured) delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech, describing his desire for a future where blacks and whites would coexist harmoniously as equals.

Augustine of Hippo (d. 430) · Sheridan Le Fanu (b. 1814) · Omayra Sánchez (b. 1972)

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Nick Saban

The Alabama Crimson Tide college football team has had 27 head coaches, and 1 interim head coach, since it began play during the 1892 season. Twelve coaches have led the Crimson Tide in postseason bowl games. Eight of those coaches also won conference championships: Wallace Wade captured four as a member of the Southern Conference and Frank Thomas, Harold Drew, Paul "Bear" Bryant, Bill Curry, Gene Stallings, Mike DuBose, and Nick Saban (pictured) won a combined 25 as a member of the Southeastern Conference. During their tenures, Wade, Thomas, Bryant, Stallings, and Saban each won national championships with the Crimson Tide. Bryant is the leader in seasons coached and games won, with 232 victories during his 25 years with the program. Saban has the highest winning percentage of those who have coached more than one game, with .866. Of the 28 different head coaches who have led the Crimson Tide, Wade, Thomas, Bryant, and Stallings have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. (Full list...)

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Portrait of Simonetta Vespucci is an oil painting on canvas completed by the Italian Renaissance painter Piero di Cosimo around 1480 or 1490. It depicts Simonetta Vespucci, a Genoese noblewoman who was renowned in Florence for her beauty. The painting is held at the Musée Condé in Chantilly, France.

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