Wikipedia:Main Page history/2019 September 18

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From today's featured article

James Park Woods (1886–1963) was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that could be awarded to members of the Australian armed forces at the time. Woods enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in September 1916, and joined the 48th Battalion in France in September 1917. He participated in the First Battle of Passchendaele the following month. In 1918, Woods was hospitalised twice, finally returning to his unit in mid-August. On 18 September, the 48th Battalion was involved in the attack on the Hindenburg Outpost Line. During this battle Woods led a four-man patrol in an attack on a strong German post, inflicting severe casualties and driving more than thirty Germans from the position. His actions during this assault and subsequent defence against German counter-attacks resulted in him being awarded the Victoria Cross. His medals are now displayed in the Hall of Valour at the Australian War Memorial. (Full article...)

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In the news

Ricky Rubio

The FIBA Basketball World Cup concludes, with Spain defeating Argentina in the final (tournament MVP Ricky Rubio pictured).
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, the first such discovery for an exoplanet in the habitable zone around a star.

On this day

September 18

Marble bust of Nerva

AD 96 – Following the assassination of Roman emperor Domitian, the Roman Senate appointed Nerva (bust pictured), the first of the "Five Good Emperors", to succeed him.
1809 – The second theatre of the Royal Opera House in London opened after a fire destroyed the original theatre one year earlier.
1851 – The New York Times, the largest metropolitan newspaper in the United States, was founded.
1948 – The Australian cricket team's Invincibles tour of England concluded; they had played thirty-four matches, including five Tests, without defeat.
2014 – Scotland voted against independence from the United Kingdom.

Andronikos Komnenos (b. 1091) · Zhang Xianzhong (b. 1606) · Edwin McMillan (b. 1907)

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Today's featured picture

Aletta Jacobs (1854–1929) was a Dutch physician and women's suffrage activist. Jacobs strove throughout her life to change laws that limited women's access to equality, starting in 1883 with an unsuccessful court challenge and eventually achieving success 100 years ago today, on 18 September 1919, with the signing of a suffrage bill into law. She is also noted for founding the world's first birth control clinic, in 1882. As a child Jacobs yearned to become a doctor like her father and, despite existing barriers, she fought to gain entry to higher education and became the first woman officially to attend a Dutch university, and one of the first female physicians in the Netherlands. Providing medical services to women and children, she grew concerned over the health of working women, and although she continued to practice medicine until 1903, she increasingly turned her attention to activism with a view to improving women's lives. In addition to her suffrage work she led campaigns aimed at deregulating prostitution, improving women's working conditions, and promoting peace.

Photograph credit: Max Büttinghausen; restored by Adam Cuerden

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