Wikipedia:Main Page history/2020 December 8b

the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

From today's featured article

Cyclone Chapala was a powerful tropical cyclone that hit Yemen and brushed Somalia in November 2015. The third named storm of the 2015 North Indian Ocean cyclone season, it developed as a depression on 28 October off western India, and strengthened a day later into a cyclonic storm. On 30 October, the India Meteorological Department estimated Chapala's peak three-minute sustained winds at 215 km/h (130 mph). The Joint Typhoon Warning Center estimated one-minute sustained winds of 240 km/h (150 mph), making Chapala one of the strongest cyclones on record in the Arabian Sea. Chapala skirted the Yemeni island of Socotra on 1 November, becoming the first hurricane-force storm there since 1922. Upon entering the Gulf of Aden on 2 November, it became the strongest known cyclone in that body of water. After brushing Somalia, the storm made landfall on 3 November, near Mukalla, Yemen, as a very severe cyclonic storm. It was the strongest storm on record to strike Yemen, where eight people died. (Full article...)

Recently featured:

Did you know ...

Krzysztof Penderecki

... that a Magnificat was composed for the 1200th anniversary of Salzburg Cathedral in 1974 by Krzysztof Penderecki (pictured) for two choirs of at least 24 voices, and conducted by him in the premiere?
... that in 2006, social-justice advocate Ronnie L. Podolefsky represented six female athletes who accused their high-school basketball coach of sexual misconduct?
... that following the Common Sense Revolution, the entire route of Ontario Highway 45 was downloaded from provincial oversight and redesignated as County Road 45?
... that in 1941, a group of isolationist U.S. senators conducted an investigation into alleged "war propaganda" in Hollywood films?
... that when Paulina died, her husband Pammachius received condolence letters from St Jerome and Paulinus of Nola?
... that the lighting in a portrait by David Hockney has been described as "icily arrogant"?
... that an extract of noodle seagrass inhibits the growth of microalgae, mussels and limpets?
... that Douglas Stuart's Booker Prize–winning debut novel, Shuggie Bain, was rejected by 32 publishers before being picked up?

In the news

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

Julien Ingrassia

In motorsport, Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia (pictured) win the World Rally Championship, while Hyundai win the manufacturers' title.
Hayabusa2 successfully returns samples collected from asteroid 162173 Ryugu to Earth.
Zdravko Krivokapić takes office as Prime Minister of Montenegro, becoming the first independent to hold the post.
In India, a nationwide general strike occurs and 100,000 people continue with the farmers' protests surrounding New Delhi.

On this day

December 8: Feast of the Immaculate Conception (Roman Rite Catholicism); Rōhatsu in Japan

John Lennon

1432 – The first battle of the Lithuanian Civil War, between the forces of Švitrigaila and Sigismund Kęstutaitis, was fought near Ashmyany.
1880 – At an assembly of 10,000 Boers, Paul Kruger announced the fulfilment of the decision to restore the government and volksraad of the South African Republic.
1927 – Three different organizations established by Robert S. Brookings merged to form the Brookings Institution, one of the United States' oldest think tanks.
1980 – John Lennon (pictured) was murdered at the entrance of the Dakota in New York.
2010 – The Japanese experimental spacecraft IKAROS flew by Venus at a distance of 80,800 km (50,200 mi), completing its planned mission to demonstrate solar-sail technology.

Antonio de Benavides (b. 1678)
John Banville (b. 1945)
Ann T. Bowling (d. 2000)

More anniversaries:

Today's featured picture

The golden-headed cisticola (Cisticola exilis) is a species of warbler in the family Cisticolidae, found in Asia and Australia. An unobtrusive bird, it forages for invertebrates, such as insects and small slugs, near the ground, but supplements its diet with grass seeds. Both sexes construct the rounded nest with a side entrance in a grass tussock or among tangled herbage. Built of green leaves and fine grasses and lined with soft plant down, it is stitched together with cobweb silk and camouflaged on the outside with further herbage. The female incubates the eggs and the male drives off intruders, but despite this concealment and care, only 32 per cent of the eggs successfully hatch. This golden-headed cisticola was photographed near Cornwallis, New South Wales, in Australia.

Photograph credit: John Harrison

Recently featured:

Other areas of Wikipedia

Community portal – Bulletin board, projects, resources and activities covering a wide range of Wikipedia areas.
Help desk – Ask questions about using Wikipedia.
Local embassy – For Wikipedia-related communication in languages other than English.
Reference desk – Serving as virtual librarians, Wikipedia volunteers tackle your questions on a wide range of subjects.
Site news – Announcements, updates, articles and press releases on Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Foundation.
Village pump – For discussions about Wikipedia itself, including areas for technical issues and policies.