Wikipedia:Main Page history/2018 October 26

the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

From today's featured article

Taapaca is a volcanic complex in northern Chile's Arica y Parinacota Region. It is part of the Central Volcanic Zone of the Andes, one of four distinct volcanic chains in South America. The town of Putre lies at the southwestern foot of the volcano. Like other volcanoes of the Central Volcanic Zone, Taapaca formed from the subduction of the Nazca Plate beneath the South America Plate. It lies on the western margin of the Altiplano high plateau, on top of older volcanic and sedimentary units. Taapaca reaches a height of 5,860 metres (19,230 ft) above sea level. It is usually covered by snow but does not feature glaciers. It consists primarily of many overlapping lava domes that formed during several stages of eruptions, starting during the Pliocene. The emplacement of lava domes was often followed by their collapse and block-and-ash avalanches. The most recent eruption is dated to 320 BCE. (Full article...)

Recently featured:

Did you know...

George G. Eitel,
c. 1914

... that Minneapolis surgeon George G. Eitel (pictured) was falsely rumored to have been shot at sunrise at Fort Snelling?
... that Benedicite, composed by Andrew Carter for choir, children's choir, and orchestra, was inspired by restored ceiling bosses in York Minster?
... that several Major League Baseball teams adopted the "opener" strategy during the 2018 season?
... that in 2017, Willem de Kooning's Woman-Ochre was found for sale in a New Mexico antique store, 32 years after it was stolen from the University of Arizona Museum of Art?
... that despite being the son of a professional basketball player, Luka Šamanić did not begin playing the game until the age of 11?
... that the flatworm Microplana terrestris can use a trail of mucus as a "suspension bridge" to pass from one leaf to another?
... that John "Jabo" Starks was one of the originators of funk drumming?
... that Doom was Dutch?

In the news

Yilan train derailment

A passenger train derails (pictured) in Yilan County, Taiwan, killing at least 18 people and injuring more than 170 others.
Nine sugarcane farmers are shot and killed in Sagay, Philippines.
The European and Japanese space agencies launch BepiColombo, two probes intended to study the planet Mercury.
An estimated 700,000 people attend a People's Vote march in London, calling for a public vote on the final Brexit deal.

On this day

October 26

Chicago Theatre

1597 – Thirteen Korean ships commanded by Admiral Yi Sun-sin defeated a far larger Japanese invasion fleet at the Battle of Myeongnyang in the Myeongnyang Strait.
1813 – War of 1812: A British force and its Mohawk allies under Charles de Salaberry repulsed an American attempt to invade Canada.
1902 – A group of Russian explorers led by Baron Eduard Toll left their camp on Bennett Island and disappeared without a trace.
1921 – The Chicago Theatre (pictured), the oldest surviving grand movie palace, opened.
1994 – Israel and Jordan signed a peace treaty settling relations between the two countries and pledging that neither would allow its territory to become a staging ground for military strikes by a third country.

John Basset (b. 1518) · William T. Anderson (d. 1864) · Oro (d. 1993)

More anniversaries:

From today's featured list

Taunton Castle

There are 33 scheduled monuments in Taunton Deane, a local government district with borough status in Somerset, England. A scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or monument which is given legal protection by being placed on a list (or "schedule") by the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport; English Heritage takes the leading role in identifying such sites. Many of the scheduled monuments are Neolithic through to the Bronze and Iron Ages, including bowl barrows, cairns, and hill forts, such as Norton Camp. Castle Neroche was an Iron Age hill fort which was reused as a Norman motte-and-bailey castle. Burrow Mump shows evidence of Roman use but is better known as a Norman motte-and-bailey castle, and later church. The Medieval period is represented by several churchyard crosses. The defensive walls and part of Taunton Castle (pictured), which has Anglo-Saxon origins and was expanded during the Medieval and Tudor eras, is included. (Full list...)

Recently featured:

Today's featured picture

The Hunting of the Snark, published in 1876, is a poem by Lewis Carroll, telling the story of ten individuals who cross the ocean to hunt the Snark. In common with other Carroll works, the meaning of the poem has been queried and analysed in depth. It is divided into eight "fits" (a pun on the archaic fitt meaning a part of a song, and fit meaning a convulsion).

This picture is Plate 9 of Henry Holiday's illustrations for the first edition of the poem. It illustrates the seventh fit, The Banker's Fate. The Banker is sitting in a chair and holding bone castanets.

Illustration: Henry Holiday. Restoration: Adam Cuerden

Recently featured:

Other areas of Wikipedia

Community portal – Bulletin board, projects, resources and activities covering a wide range of Wikipedia areas.
Help desk – Ask questions about using Wikipedia.
Local embassy – For Wikipedia-related communication in languages other than English.
Reference desk – Serving as virtual librarians, Wikipedia volunteers tackle your questions on a wide range of subjects.
Site news – Announcements, updates, articles and press releases on Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Foundation.
Village pump – For discussions about Wikipedia itself, including areas for technical issues and policies.