Wikipedia:Main Page history/2018 July 22

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From today's featured article

Megalodon (Carcharocles megalodon), an extinct species of shark, lived around 23 to 2.6 million years ago, from the Early Miocene to the Late Pliocene. Once thought to be closely related to the great white shark (C. carcharias), it may be a member of the extinct family Otodontidae. It may have looked like a stocky great white, measuring at most 18 meters (59 ft), and averaging 10.5 metres (34 ft). Its large jaws exerted an estimated bite force of 108,500 to 182,200 newtons (24,400 to 41,000 lb_f), coupled with thick teeth to grab large, struggling prey, crushing the heart and lungs of the marine mammals – mainly baleen whales – that it fed on in oceans around the world. It is thought that its decline was due to competition from other large predators (such as Livyatan), the ice ages, and the shift in whale populations. The shark has made appearances in media such as the Discovery Channel's docufiction Megalodon: The Monster Shark Lives. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

John W. Brady

... that when Texas judge John W. Brady (pictured) heard his sentence for murdering his mistress, he cried out: "I didn't do it; I didn't do it. I do not deserve that sentence"?
... that in ancient Indian stories, a person "can bend the cosmic forces to his will" through an "act of truth"?
... that Leonard Guthrie thought that Napoleon Bonaparte's genital atrophy, sexual alopecia, and feminine appearance indicated hypopituitarism?
... that "We Say Mabuhay" is performed following the inauguration of a president of the Philippines?
... that Loren Klein is the third player to win World Series of Poker bracelets in three consecutive years since the poker boom began?
... that there are accounts of a macuahuitl, a Mesoamerican weapon made from wood and stone, decapitating a horse?
... that Kartik Aaryan made his acting debut in the 2011 film Pyaar Ka Punchnama after answering a casting call on Facebook?
... that Thameslink passengers have likened the seats on the Class 700 trains to "ironing boards"?

In the news

France national football team

An amphibious "duck boat" sinks in Table Rock Lake, United States, leaving 17 people dead.
In association football, the FIFA World Cup concludes with France (team pictured) defeating Croatia in the final.
At least 154 people are killed and more than 220 others are injured in multiple bombings in Mastung and Bannu, Pakistan.
Scientists announce the discovery of stone tools dating to 2.1 million years ago in Shangchen, China, the oldest evidence of hominins outside Africa.

On this day

July 22: Feast day of Mary Magdalene; Tisha B'Av (Judaism, 2018); Parents' Day in the United States (2018); Pi Approximation Day

Rock inscribed by Alexander Mackenzie

838 – Arab–Byzantine wars: The forces of the Abbasid Caliphate defeated Byzantine Empire troops, led by Emperor Theophilos himself, at the Battle of Anzen near present-day Dazman, Turkey.
1793 – Scottish explorer Alexander Mackenzie inscribed his name on a rock near Dean Channel (pictured) after becoming the first recorded person to complete a transcontinental crossing of North America north of Mexico.
1975 – Stanley Forman took the Pulitzer Prize-winning photo Fire Escape Collapse, which spurred action to improve the safety of fire escapes across the United States.
2005 – London metropolitan police killed Jean Charles de Menezes, a Brazilian immigrant, after misidentifying him as being involved in the previous day's failed bombing attempts on the city.

Mary Wriothesley, Countess of Southampton (b. 1552) · Emma Lazarus (b. 1849) · Indra Lal Roy (d. 1918)

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Today's featured picture

The nacunda nighthawk (Chordeiles nacunda) is a species in the nightjar family. It is endemic to South America, living in dry savanna, subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland, and heavily degraded former forest. It is among the largest nightjars in the world, with a length of 27.5 to 32 cm (10.8 to 12.6 in).

Photograph: Andreas Trepte

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