Wikipedia:Main Page history/2020 December 31

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From today's featured article

George Gosse (16 February 1912 – 31 December 1964) was an Australian recipient of the George Cross, the highest non-combat award for heroism or courage that could be awarded to a member of the Australian armed forces at the time. Gosse served in the Royal Australian Navy between 1926 and 1933, and in 1940 joined the Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve. He served in the UK before being sent to British India as a naval mine clearance specialist. Returning to the UK in late 1944, in April 1945 he was given command of a party responsible for mine clearance in the recently captured Bremen Harbour in Germany. He displayed courage in defusing three mines under very difficult conditions between 8 May and 19 May 1945, for which he was awarded the George Cross. After the war Gosse reached the rank of lieutenant commander, retiring in 1958. He died of a heart condition in 1964. His medal set is displayed in the Hall of Valour at the Australian War Memorial. (Full article...)

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Micrograph of fumarole minerals from Tolbachik

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In the news

COVID-19 pandemic: Disease; Virus; By location; Impact; Vaccines; Portal

The EU (blue) and the UK (orange)

An attack at Aden International Airport, Yemen, leaves dozens dead and more than fifty injured.
An earthquake strikes Petrinja, Croatia, killing seven people.
The European Union and the United Kingdom (map shown) reach an agreement governing their relationship after Brexit.
The closest great conjunction between Jupiter and Saturn since 1623 occurs.

On this day

December 31

Parliament Hill, Ottawa

1775 – American Revolutionary War: At the Battle of Quebec, British forces repulsed an attack by the Continental Army to capture Quebec City and enlist French Canadian support.
1857 – Queen Victoria announced the choice of Ottawa (pictured), then a small logging town, as the capital of the British colony of Canada.
1909 – The Manhattan Bridge, connecting Lower Manhattan to Downtown Brooklyn and considered to be the forerunner of modern suspension bridges, opened to traffic.
1965 – Military officers led by Jean-Bédel Bokassa began a coup d'état against the government of Central African Republic president David Dacko.
1999 – Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin became acting president upon President Boris Yeltsin's unexpected resignation.

Kapiʻolani (b. 1834)
Ion Creangă (d. 1889)
Cornelia Clapp (d. 1934)

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Today's featured picture

Fervaal is an opera with a prologue and three acts by the French composer Vincent d'Indy. Fervaal is the son of a Celtic king and is destined to be the last advocate of the old gods. His mission is to save his homeland from invasion and pillage, but in doing so must renounce love. This illustration, by the Swiss painter Carlos Schwabe, relates to the 10 May 1898 premiere of the opera at the Théâtre de l'Opéra-Comique in Paris. Here, Fervaal is depicted ascending a mountain while carrying the body of his beloved Guilhen at the end of the opera, as the pagan gods and their worshippers fade out of existence with the dawn of Christianity.

Illustration credit: Carlos Schwabe; restored by Adam Cuerden

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