Wikipedia:Main Page history/2020 August 14

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Bart Millard and Robby Shaffer

Almost There is the first studio album by the American Christian rock band MercyMe (singer and drummer pictured), released on August 14, 2001, by INO Records. Characterizing it as contemporary worship and pop rock, music critics praised the album's songwriting, especially on "I Can Only Imagine", but gave its sound mixed reviews, ranging from "fresh" and "innovative" to derivative. CCM Magazine cited it in the 25th anniversary edition of their 100 Albums You Need to Own list. "Bless Me Indeed (Jabez's Song)" was released as the album's lead single, but it underperformed on the charts. The second single, "I Can Only Imagine", boosted sales for the album, and crossed over to mainstream radio in 2003. The album peaked at number 39 on the Billboard 200 and number one on the Billboard Christian Albums chart. Billboard ranked it as the fourth best-selling Christian album of 2000–2009 in the United States. Both the album and the single "I Can Only Imagine" have sold more than 3 million copies. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Elizabeth Throsby in 1814

... that Elizabeth Throsby (depicted) survived an 1809 massacre in which her mother and 65 other Europeans were cannibalized by Māori?
... that Acorn Creek is named after an extinct Creek Indian village and plantation on the Chattahoochee River?
... that under the Republic of Venice, the Procuratie in St Mark's Square included apartments and shops that were rented out to finance maintenance on public buildings and provide assistance to the poor?
... that Bert Nievera, dubbed the Johnny Mathis of the Philippines, encountered the real singer who watched him perform "Misty", the latter's signature song?
... that a 1950 documentary filmed at a Christian college in Beirut shows how missionary education imparts "modern democratic ways of thinking and living" to Christians, Muslims, and Jews?
... that the 800-year-old Minchenden Oak is one of the oldest trees in London?
... that the Turkish women's league seasons of 2019–20 football and 2020 rugby sevens were named to commemorate Özge Kanbay, a football referee and rugby player, who died in 2019 at age 22 from cancer?
... that Leicester Hemingway, the brother of Ernest Hemingway, was elected president of a floating raft called New Atlantis?

In the news

COVID-19 pandemic

Alexander Lukashenko

Israel and the United Arab Emirates agree to a peace deal to normalize relations.
Pro-democracy protests intensify in Belarus after the contested reelection of incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko (pictured).
Prime Minister Hassan Diab of Lebanon, and his cabinet, resign in the wake of the explosions in Beirut that killed at least 200 people.
In golf, Collin Morikawa wins the PGA Championship for his first career major.

On this day

August 14: Independence Day in Pakistan (1947)

Phonograph recording of "The Lost Chord"

1720 – The Spanish Villasur expedition, intended to slow the progress of French influence on the Great Plains of North America, ended in failure when it was ambushed by Pawnee and Otoe forces.
1888 – One of the first music recordings ever made, of Arthur Sullivan's "The Lost Chord" (audio featured), was played at a press conference introducing Thomas Edison's phonograph in London.
1975 – The Rocky Horror Picture Show premiered in London, the first in its record-breaking run in cinemas, which continues in limited release.
2010 – The inaugural edition of the Youth Olympic Games opened in Singapore for athletes between 14 and 18 years old.

Badr al-Mu'tadidi (d. 902)
Charlotte Fowler Wells (b. 1814)
Bobby Eaton (b. 1958)

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Sheoo Mewalal

The first player ever to score a hat-trick for India in an international football match was R. Lumsden. He achieved the feat in a friendly match against Australia on 24 September 1938, at the Sydney Showground, although India lost the match 5–4. Since independence in 1947, nine Indian players have scored a hat-trick in an international football match. No Indian player has ever scored more than three goals in a single game. The first player after independence to score a hat-trick for India was Sheoo Mewalal (pictured) in a 4–0 victory over Burma in the 1952 Colombo Quadrangular Tournament. Sunil Chhetri is the only Indian footballer to have scored a hat-trick more than once; he has achieved the feat three times, the latest of which came in India's 5–0 victory over Chinese Taipei in the opening match of the 2018 Intercontinental Cup. Neville D'Souza was the first Asian to score a hat-trick in the history of Olympic football. He achieved the feat in a 4–2 victory over Australia at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. (Full list...)

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Elsie Leslie (August 14, 1881 – October 31, 1966) was an American actress, the country's first child star and the highest-paid and most popular child actress of her era. She came to prominence in 1887 with her performance in Editha's Burglar opposite E. H. Sothern at the Lyceum Theatre in New York. She achieved further fame with her roles in Little Lord Fauntleroy in 1888 and The Prince and the Pauper in 1890. Leslie was a great letter writer, maintaining a correspondence with leading actors, actresses and statesmen. Although most of her correspondents were adult, two were girls nearer her own age: Eleanor Roosevelt and Helen Keller. She took a break from acting, returning to the stage in 1898, but did not manage to recapture the old magic as an adult. This photograph from 1899, taken by Zaida Ben-Yusuf, shows Leslie playing the role of Lydia Languish in Richard Brinsley Sheridan's play The Rivals.

Photograph credit: Zaida Ben-Yusuf; restored by Adam Cuerden

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