Wikipedia:Main Page history/2017 November 12

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From today's featured article

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is a 1982 American science fiction fantasy film co-produced and directed by Steven Spielberg. Written by Melissa Mathison, it stars Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace, Robert MacNaughton, Drew Barrymore, Peter Coyote and Pat Welsh. It tells the story of Elliott (Thomas), a lonely boy who befriends a stranded extraterrestrial. Elliott and his siblings help E.T. return home while attempting to hide him from their mother and the government. Filmed on a budget of $10.5 million, it was shot in rough chronological order, to facilitate convincing emotional performances from the young cast. E.T. was an immediate blockbuster, surpassing Star Wars to become the highest-grossing film of all time—a record it held for eleven years until Jurassic Park, another Spielberg-directed film, surpassed it in 1993. Considered one of the greatest films ever made, it was widely acclaimed by critics as a timeless story of friendship, and it ranks as the greatest science fiction film ever made in a Rotten Tomatoes survey. It was re-released in 1985, and then again in 2002 to celebrate its 20th anniversary, with altered shots and additional scenes. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

Boiled leather pickelhaube

... that the German Army used pickelhaube helmets made of boiled leather (example pictured) until halfway through World War I?
... that it took authorities at Kansas City International Airport eight months to find Randy Potter's body in his parked truck, despite recording all license plate numbers nightly?
... that Luca Guadagnino, who directed the romantic drama film Call Me by Your Name, was first hired as a location consultant for the film?
... that the minister, writer, and publisher Christian Gottlob Barth is remembered on 12 November in the Lutheran calendar of saints?
... that the orange-backed troupial often takes over the nest of a yellow-rumped cacique?
... that the British physician Stephanie Amiel has specialised in type I diabetes since her time at Yale University in the 1980s?
... that in its history, the Palau del Parlament de Catalunya has been an arsenal, a barracks, a royal palace, an art museum, and the seat of the Parliament of Catalonia?
... that NASA engineer John Hirasaki says he read The Andromeda Strain prior to being quarantined with the returning Apollo 11 astronauts?

In the news

Mohammad bin Salman

The Paradise Papers—more than 13 million financial documents relating to offshore investment—are leaked.
In Sutherland Springs, Texas, United States, 26 people are killed and 20 others are injured in a mass shooting at a Baptist church.
In the midst of reforms by Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (pictured), more than 40 senior Saudi princes and ministers are arrested on corruption charges.
In baseball, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks defeat the Yokohama DeNA BayStars to win the Japan Series.
The Tapanuli orangutan is identified as a new species of great ape.
At least 32 people are killed and more than 90 others are injured in an explosion at a coal-fired power plant in Uttar Pradesh, India.

On this day...

November 12

Philae lander (artist's impression)

1892 – William Heffelfinger was paid $525 by the Allegheny Athletic Association, becoming the first professional American football player on record.
1905 – In a referendum, 79% of voters opted to keep Norway a monarchy, paving the way for Haakon VII to take the throne.
1942 – World War II: The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, the decisive engagement in a series of naval battles between Allied and Japanese forces during the months-long Guadalcanal Campaign in the Solomon Islands, began.
1970 – A cyclone made landfall on the coast of East Pakistan (Bangladesh), becoming the deadliest tropical cyclone in history, with up to 500,000 people killed.
2014 – The European Space Agency's Philae lander (artist's impression shown) became the first spacecraft to land on a comet when it touched down on 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko.

Peter Martyr Vermigli (d. 1562) · Rachel Barrett (b. 1874) · Jo Stafford (b. 1917)

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Today's featured picture

The National Library of Greece is a library situated near the center of Athens that holds material produced in or related to Greece. It was founded by Ioannis Kapodistrias in 1832, and its holdings include 4,500 Greek manuscripts. The building was designed by the Danish architect Theophil Hansen, as part of his "Trilogy" of neo-classical buildings, and was opened in 1903.

Photograph: Thomas Wolf

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