Wikipedia:Main Page history/2018 March 20

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From today's featured article

Barry Voight (born 1937) is an American geologist, volcanologist, author, and engineer. He was a professor of geology at Pennsylvania State University from 1964 until his retirement in 2005. He still conducts research on rock mechanics, plate tectonics, disaster prevention, and geotechnical engineering. In April 1980, Voight's publications on landslides, avalanches and other mass movements convinced Rocky Crandell of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to ask him to look at a growing bulge on the Mount St. Helens volcano in the state of Washington. Voight predicted the collapse of the mountain's north flank as well as a powerful eruption. After his predictions were realized in May 1980, he was hired by the USGS to investigate the debris avalanche that initiated the eruption. His work at St. Helens brought him international recognition, and he continued researching and guiding monitoring efforts at several active volcanoes, including Nevado del Ruiz in Colombia, Mount Merapi in Indonesia, and Soufrière Hills, a volcano on the Caribbean island of Montserrat. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

Statue of Shaitan Singh

... that a badly wounded Major Shaitan Singh (statue pictured), who was later awarded the Param Vir Chakra, ordered his soldiers to leave him behind rather than face enemy fire evacuating him?
... that Citicorp chose to build a tower near the Court Square–23rd Street station in Queens because it was one subway stop away from the company's headquarters in Manhattan, across the East River?
... that the performances of Maaya Sakamoto and Sanae Kobayashi inspired Saori Ōnishi to pursue a voice acting career?
... that the Orange College of Breda was founded by Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange?
... that the inland free-tailed bat can survive the most extreme range of body temperatures of any mammal known?
... that upon her completion in 1885, the French cruiser Milan was considered the fastest warship afloat?
... that in 2016, annual global internet traffic reached 1.2 zettabytes, leading some to label the current period the Zettabyte Era?
... that Charles Phillips, who excavated the Sutton Hoo ship-burial, was tasked as a schoolboy with digging latrines near Stonehenge?

In the news

Vladimir Putin

Vladimir Putin (pictured) is re-elected President of Russia.
Brazilian politician and human rights activist Marielle Franco is killed in a shooting in Rio de Janeiro.
In response to the poisoning of Sergei Skripal with a nerve agent, the United Kingdom expels 23 Russian diplomats.
British physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking dies at the age of 76.

On this day...

March 20: March equinox (16:15 UTC, 2018); Independence Day in Tunisia (1956)

Harriet Beecher Stowe

235 – Maximinus Thrax succeeded to the throne of the Roman Empire, a so-called barracks emperor who gained power by virtue of his command of the army.
1852 – Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe (pictured) was first published, profoundly affecting attitudes toward African Americans and slavery in the United States.
1922 – The United States Navy commissioned its first aircraft carrier, USS Langley.
1987 – The antiretroviral drug zidovudine (AZT) became the first antiviral drug approved for use against HIV and AIDS.
1993 – The Troubles: The second of two bomb attacks by the Provisional IRA in Warrington, England, killed two children.

Adrienne Lecouvreur (d. 1730) · Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck (b. 1870) · Willie Brown (b. 1934)

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Today's featured picture

The Moul n'ga Cirque in the Tadrart region, Southeast Algeria, with wave clouds above

The Acacus Mountains are a mountain range in western Libya, part of the Sahara. Situated east of the city of Ghat, they stretch north from the border with Algeria, about 100 kilometres (60 mi). The mountains have a large variation of landscapes, from different-coloured dunes to arches, gorges, isolated rocks and deep wadis. The area has a particularly rich array of prehistoric rock art.

Photograph: Pir6mon

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