Wikipedia:Main Page history/2019 December 18

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From today's featured article

Frederik Pohl

Super Science Stories was an American pulp science fiction magazine published by Popular Publications. Frederik Pohl (pictured) did most of the editing from 1940 to 1943, and the title was revived from 1949 to 1951 with Ejler Jakobsson as editor. Popular gave Pohl a very low budget, and he wrote many of the stories himself. Most of the submitted manuscripts had already been rejected by other magazines, but he was able to acquire stories for the early issues from the Futurians, a group of young science fiction fans and aspiring writers. Super Science Stories was an initial success, and Pohl managed to obtain stories by writers who later became well known, such as Isaac Asimov and Robert Heinlein. When Jakobsson took over, he ran many reprinted stories. Although the magazine was never regarded as one of the leading titles of the genre, science fiction historian Raymond Thompson describes it as "one of the most interesting magazines to appear during the 1940s". (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Asahishō Kōta

... that sumo wrestler Asahishō Kōta (pictured) is a regular guest on chat shows due to his sense of humour?
... that the Carolina Watchman newspaper supported the Confederacy during the Civil War, but backed the Union cause both before and after?
... that Frank Palmer started in the advertising business on April 1, 1969, and retired 50 years later to the day?
... that the 2001 manga series World of the S&M was released in English as The World Exists for Me?
... that Mongol general Uriyangkhadai invaded the territory of the Song dynasty in southern China by going through Tibet and Vietnam?
... that Hirtodrosophila mycetophaga mate on bracket fungi, selectively choosing those with a lighter surface to enhance the visibility of their courtship displays?
... that in 2014, Moroccan-born long-distance runner Adil Bouafif won his fourth gold medal in the 10,000 metres at the Swedish national championships?
... that the Austin, Nichols and Company Warehouse is one of the few Egyptian Revival buildings in New York City?

In the news

Pervez Musharraf

Former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf (pictured) is sentenced to death in absentia for treason and subverting the constitution.
In India, at least six people are killed and many others are arrested in protests against a law on citizenship for migrants.
The Conservatives, led by Boris Johnson, win a majority of seats in the UK general election.
After a three-day search, the crash site of a Chilean military aircraft is located with no survivors among the thirty-eight people onboard.

On this day

December 18: Qatar National Day (1878)

Various world leaders at the Copenhagen Summit

1499 – Muslims in the city of Granada began a rebellion against their Castilian rulers in response to forced conversions to Catholicism.
1867 – In Angola, New York, the last coach of a Lake Shore Railway train derailed, plunged 40 feet (12 m) down a gully, and caught fire, resulting in approximately 49 deaths.
1939 – Second World War: The Luftwaffe won a victory over the Royal Air Force in the Battle of the Heligoland Bight, greatly influencing both sides' future aerial warfare strategy.
1969 – On Her Majesty's Secret Service, the sixth James Bond film and the only one to star George Lazenby as James Bond, premiered at the Odeon Leicester Square in London.
2009 – The Copenhagen Summit on climate change (participants pictured) ended with the drafting of the non-binding Copenhagen Accord.

Edith of Wessex (d. 1075) · Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (d. 1829) · Tara Conner (b. 1985)

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Today's featured picture

Raorchestes parvulus is a small bush frog native to tropical southeastern Asia. Although the reproductive strategy of this species has not been studied, members of the family typically make a foam nest while mating in vegetation overhanging a stream. They create the foam by beating their legs, and the eggs are deposited into the nest and covered with seminal fluid before the foam hardens into a protective casing. When the eggs hatch, the young push their way out of the nest and fall into the water below.

This picture shows a male R. parvulus frog, photographed in Phu Kradueng National Park, Thailand, calling by inflating its vocal sac.

Photograph credit: Rushenb

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