Wikipedia:Main Page history/2019 November 20

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From today's featured article

A Dutch soldier on patrol
during the riots

The 1969 Curaçao uprising was a series of riots from 30 May to 1 June on the Caribbean island of Curaçao, then part of the Netherlands Antilles, a semi-independent country in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. A protest rally during a strike by oil workers turned violent, leading to widespread looting and destruction in the center of Curaçao's capital, Willemstad, as well as two deaths and hundreds of arrests. The protesters achieved their demands for higher wages and the government's resignation. The uprising's leaders gained seats in parliamentary elections in September. A commission investigating the riots put the blame on economic issues, racial tensions, and police and government misconduct. The uprising prompted the Dutch government to undertake new efforts to fully decolonize the remnants of its colonial empire. Suriname, another constituent country of the Netherlands, became independent in 1975, but leaders of the Antilles resisted independence out of fear of economic repercussions. (Full article...)

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Tamara Vrooman

... that in 2019, Vancity CEO Tamara Vrooman (pictured) received the Order of British Columbia for her contributions to a better quality of life in the province "and beyond"?
... that just prior to the construction of 500 Fifth Avenue, the site on which it was built was reportedly the second most valuable undeveloped lot in Manhattan?
... that Akira the Hustler was a member of the Biters, a performance art group whose members were both artists and sex workers?
... that the first incarnation of radio station WYFI was described as running "on faith and LPs" and ending in an "Edsel-like burn" within a year?
... that Chinese government minister Xiao Han lost two sons in the 1976 Tangshan earthquake?
... that in 2006, David Lehman said that poet John Ashbery had received more major honors and awards than any other living American writer?
... that with 21 goals, Hassan Maatouk is the Lebanon national football team's all-time top goalscorer?
... that the Satanic nightjar can make a growling noise when disturbed?

In the news

Kyle Busch

In stock car racing, the NASCAR Cup Series concludes, with Kyle Busch (pictured) winning the drivers' championship.
Cyclone Bulbul hits the Indian and Bangladeshi coasts of the Bay of Bengal, killing at least 24 people.
After weeks of protests over electoral fraud, Bolivian president Evo Morales and other high-ranking politicians are forced to resign, and opposition senator Jeanine Áñez becomes interim president.
The Supreme Court of India delivers a unanimous verdict in favour of the construction of a Hindu temple at a disputed holy site in Ayodhya.

On this day

November 20: Transgender Day of Remembrance; National Sovereignty Day in Argentina (1845)

Graffiti from the occupation of Alcatraz

1739 – War of Jenkins' Ear: A British naval force captured the settlement of Portobello in the Spanish Main (now in Panama).
1776 – American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Fort Lee saw the invasion of New Jersey by British and Hessian forces and the subsequent general retreat of the Continental Army.
1902 – While discussing how to promote the newspaper L'Auto, sports journalist Géo Lefèvre came up with the idea of holding a cycling race that later became known as the Tour de France.
1969 – A group of Native American activists began a 19-month occupation of Alcatraz Island (graffiti pictured) in San Francisco Bay.
1994 – In accordance with the Lusaka Protocol, the Angolan government signed a ceasefire with UNITA rebels in a failed attempt to end the Angolan Civil War.

Anton Rubinstein (d. 1894) · John Gardner (b. 1926) · Meredith Whitney (b. 1969)

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Today's featured picture

Profile Portrait of a Young Lady is a 1465 half-length portrait in oil on poplar, commonly attributed to Italian artist Antonio del Pollaiuolo. A minority of scholars attribute the portrait to another Italian artist, Piero della Francesca. Wilhelm von Bode attributed the painting to Domenico Veneziano; it has also been alternatively attributed to Alesso Baldovinetti. The emphatic use of line and the clarity of the contrasting colour surfaces in the work are typical features of the Florentine School. The anonymous woman is depicted in a brocade dress, with her posture suggesting that she is sitting in the marble embrasure of a window or balcony. The painting is now in the collection of the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin.

Painting credit: Antonio del Pollaiuolo (attributed)

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