Wikipedia:Main Page history/2019 September 17

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From today's featured article

Harriet Tubman (1822–1913) was an African-American abolitionist and political activist. Born into slavery, Tubman escaped in 1849, then returned 13 times to rescue approximately 70 of her enslaved family and friends. Traveling by night, she used a network of antislavery activists and safe houses known as the Underground Railroad. After the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was passed, she helped fugitives go farther north into British North America, and helped newly freed slaves find work. Tubman met John Brown in 1858, and helped him plan and recruit for his 1859 raid on Harpers Ferry. When the Civil War began, she worked for the Union Army, first as a cook and nurse, and then as an armed scout and spy. The first woman to lead an armed expedition in the war, she guided the raid at Combahee Ferry, which liberated more than 700 slaves. Later in life she was an activist for women's suffrage. After her death, she was celebrated as an American icon. (Full article...)

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Lady Burton's rope squirrel

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... that Bush Terminal, an intermodal shipping, warehousing, and manufacturing complex in New York City, was once so large that it had its own judicial system?
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... that former Oregon state representative Ole W. Grubb and his wife had nine children of their own and cared for about 160 foster children?

In the news

Artist's impression of K2-18b orbiting red dwarf K2-18

The FIBA Basketball World Cup concludes, with Spain defeating Argentina in the final.
Drone attacks on two major oil facilities force Saudi Arabia to cut more than half of its oil production.
Astronomers announce the detection of water in the atmosphere of exoplanet K2-18b (artist's impression shown), the first such discovery for an exoplanet in the habitable zone around a star.

On this day

September 17: Constitution Day in the United States

Smoke rises above Amman during Black September

1658 – Portuguese Restoration War: Having crossed the Minho and entered Portuguese territory, a Spanish army was victorious in the Battle of Vilanova.
1793 – War of the Pyrenees: Forces from the French Army of the Eastern Pyrenees defeated two divisions of the Army of Catalonia, marking the high point of the Spanish invasion of Roussillon.
1914 – Andrew Fisher, whose previous term as prime minister of Australia oversaw a period of reform unmatched in the Commonwealth until the 1940s, became prime minister for the third time.
1939 – World War II: The Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east, sixteen days after Nazi Germany's attack on the country from the west.
1970 – The Jordanian Army commenced operations to oust Palestinian fedayeen from Jordan, in what became known as Black September (smoke rising above Amman pictured).

Elizabeth Canning (b. 1734) · Frederick Corbett (b. 1853) · Mandawuy Yunupingu (b. 1956)

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Today's featured picture

Mount Ararat is a snow-capped and dormant compound volcano in the extreme east of Turkey. It consists of two major volcanic cones: Greater Ararat and Little Ararat. Greater Ararat is the highest peak in Turkey and the Armenian plateau, with an elevation of 5,137 m (16,854 ft); Little Ararat's elevation is 3,896 m (12,782 ft). The Ararat massif is about 35 km (22 mi) wide at ground base. The first efforts to reach Ararat's summit were made in the Middle Ages. However, it was not until 1829 when Friedrich Parrot and Khachatur Abovian, accompanied by four others, made the first recorded ascent. Despite the scholarly consensus that the "mountains of Ararat" of the Book of Genesis (8:4) do not refer specifically to Mount Ararat, it has been widely accepted in Christianity as the resting place of Noah's Ark. It is the principal national symbol of Armenia and has been considered a sacred mountain by Armenians. It is featured prominently in Armenian literature and art and is an icon for Armenian irredentism. Along with Noah's Ark, it is depicted on the coat of arms of Armenia.

This picture is a panorama of Mount Ararat and the Ararat Plain as seen from near the city of Artashat, Armenia, showing both Little Ararat (left) and Greater Ararat (right). The historic Khor Virap monastery can be seen in the background on the far left.

Photograph credit: Serouj Ourishian

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