Wikipedia:Main Page history/2019 March 31

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From today's featured article

The Car Barn is a historic building in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Designed by the American architect Waddy Butler Wood, it was built between 1895 and 1897 by the Capital Traction Company as a union terminal for several Washington and Virginia streetcar lines. The Exorcist steps, later named after their appearance in William Friedkin's 1973 horror film The Exorcist, were built during the initial construction to connect M Street with Prospect Street. Almost immediately after its construction, it was converted to accommodate electric streetcars. The building has undergone several renovations, the most extensive in 1911, when the original Romanesque Revival façade was significantly modified and the interior was almost completely gutted. Changing ownership over time, it maintained its original function of housing streetcars until 1950, when it was redeveloped as office space. Today, it is used as an academic building by Georgetown University. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

Linda Sarsour

... that activist Linda Sarsour (pictured) was a leader of the 2017 Women's March and the 2019 Women's March?
... that in 1905, three days of violence in Warsaw were possibly sparked by a Bund activist trying to save his sister from sexual slavery?
... that a 2016 song by Taiiku Okazaki went viral in Japan as it parodied commonly used tropes in Japanese music videos?
... that the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act ensures retroactive pay for US federal employees affected by government shutdowns?
... that the Indian Member of Parliament Anju Bala believes that violence against cows can be curbed by declaring it the national animal of India?
... that Negatiw was named the "Champion Stallion" at the All-Union Agricultural Exhibition in Moscow in 1954?
... that due to sponsorship issues, NASCAR team Melling Racing hired Jeff Davis to run a race for the team using his own car?
... that Dippy is the most famous dinosaur skeleton in the world?

In the news

Robert Mueller

A Special Counsel investigation, headed by Robert Mueller (pictured), concludes and reports its findings to the United States Attorney General.
At least 160 people are killed in attacks against Fulani herdsmen in central Mali.
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant loses its last territory in Syria following a defeat by the Syrian Democratic Forces and the U.S.-led coalition.

On this day

March 31: Mothering Sunday (Western Christianity, 2019); Cesar Chavez Day in various U.S. states

Woodcut picture of Matthew C. Perry

1854 – U.S. Navy Commodore Matthew C. Perry (Japanese depiction pictured) and the Tokugawa shogunate signed the Convention of Kanagawa, forcing the opening of Japanese ports to American trade.
1889 – The Eiffel Tower was inaugurated in Paris, becoming a global cultural icon of France and one of the most recognisable structures in the world.
1901 – A magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck the Black Sea, the most powerful ever recorded in the area.
1942 – Second World War: Because of a mutiny by Indian soldiers against their British officers, Japanese troops captured Christmas Island without any resistance.
1964 – Brazilian Armed Forces led an overthrow of Brazilian President João Goulart and established a military government that lasted for 21 years.

Anne Hyde (d. 1671) · Pieter Burman the Elder (d. 1741) · Liz Claiborne (b. 1929)

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Today's featured picture

The Doorway from Moutiers-Saint-Jean is a portal dating from around 1250, originally for the abbey of Moutiers-Saint-Jean, near the French city of Dijon. It was designed in the Gothic style and carved from white oolitic limestone. The abbey was founded in the 5th century and became a major center of influence, patronised by a line of kings and nobles over the centuries. At one time it was financed by the dukes of Burgundy. Art historians detect at least two different hands working simultaneously on the structure's architectural elements, in particular the two outer pier capitals on either side which are of a different style and type. However, it is thought that both sculptors worked on either embrasure, so that neither right nor left can be fully attributed to either hand. Given the size and form of the outer piers, it is likely that the portal was originally beneath vaulting covering an ambulatory passage. It has been installed at The Cloisters in New York City since 1932.

Creator: Unknown

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