Wikipedia:Main Page history/2018 August 16

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From today's featured article

Eva Perón

Evita is a 1996 American musical drama film based on the 1976 concept album of the same name produced by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber, which also inspired a 1978 musical. The film depicts the life of Eva Perón (pictured), detailing her beginnings, rise to fame, political career and death at the age of 33. Directed by Alan Parker, and written by Parker and Oliver Stone, Evita stars Madonna as Eva, Jonathan Pryce as Eva's husband, Juan Perón, and Antonio Banderas as Ché, an everyman who acts as the film's narrator. After a nationwide release in January 1997, the film grossed over $141 million worldwide. Reviewers praised Madonna's performance, the music, costume designs and cinematography, while criticism was aimed at the pacing and direction. The film earned a number of accolades, including the Academy Award for Best Original Song ("You Must Love Me"), and three Golden Globe Awards, for Best Picture – Comedy or Musical, Best Original Song and Best Actress – Comedy or Musical. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

Madonna

... that Madonna's (pictured) 1991 song "Rescue Me" made the highest debut for a song on the Billboard Hot 100 chart since the Beatles' "Let It Be" 21 years earlier?
... that publisher Tu Books was created via a Kickstarter campaign, then purchased by Lee & Low Books three months later?
... that adult tapeworms parasitise the intestines of vertebrates but do not have guts of their own?
... that Barbara Haviland Minor's air conditioning refrigerant HFO-1234yf is believed to be used in 50% of new vehicles produced by OEMs in 2018 to help counter global warming?
... that although New York City's Bushwick Inlet Park was proposed in 2005, the land for the park was not fully purchased until 2016?
... that periodontist John Zamet was awarded a PhD after his death for his research on German and Austrian refugee dentists?
... that the publisher of Life with My Sister Madonna, a tell-all book by the singer's younger brother, sold it to retailers without revealing the title or the subject matter in order to create a media stir?
... that in 1394, John "Eleanor" Rykener was apprehended for committing a "detestable unmentionable and ignominious vice" in Cheapside and later confessed to having had sex with both friars and nuns?

In the news

Artist's impression of the Parker Solar Probe

In Afghanistan, hundreds are killed as the Taliban seize most of the strategic city of Ghazni and the surrounding province.
A portion of the Ponte Morandi motorway bridge in Genoa, Italy, collapses, killing at least 39 people.
NASA's Parker Solar Probe (artist's impression pictured) is launched to study the Sun's outer corona.
In the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen, Saudi armed forces bomb a school bus in Dahyan, killing at least 50 people, including 29 children.
Amado Boudou, former vice president of Argentina, is sentenced to almost six years in prison for corruption.

On this day

August 16:

Ringo Starr

1513 – War of the League of Cambrai: King Henry VIII of England and his Imperial allies defeated French cavalry, who were then forced to retreat.
1812 – War of 1812: American General William Hull surrendered Fort Detroit without a fight to a combined British–Native American force.
1906 – An estimated 8.2 M_W earthquake hit Valparaíso, Chile, killing 3,882 people.
1962 – The Beatles fired drummer Pete Best and replaced him with Ringo Starr (pictured).
2015 – Suicide bombers assassinated Pakistani politician Shuja Khanzada and killed at least 21 others at his home.

John II of Trebizond (d. 1297) · Ramakrishna (d. 1886) · Angela Bassett (b. 1958)

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Today's featured picture

The Hollywood Sign is an American landmark and cultural icon located in Los Angeles, California. Situated on Mount Lee, in the Hollywood Hills area of the Santa Monica Mountains, it overlooks the city's Hollywood neighborhood. The sign was originally created in 1923 as an advertisement for a local real estate development, but due to increasing recognition, the sign was left up. Frequently targeted for pranks and vandalism, it has undergone restoration several times, including the installation of a security system. Viewed from lower ground, the contours of the hills give the sign a wavy appearance; when viewed from the same height, the word "HOLLYWOOD" appears nearly straight. The sign is common in popular culture, and signs of a similar style are frequently seen as parodies.

Photograph: Thomas Wolf

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