Wikipedia:Main Page history/2020 January 19b

the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

From today's featured article

Julia Voth in costume as Jill Valentine

Jill Valentine is a fictional character in Resident Evil, a survival horror video game series created by the Japanese company Capcom. Appearing in the original Resident Evil (1996), she featured as the protagonist in several later games in the series. From 2002 onward, she was drawn to resemble Canadian model and actor Julia Voth (pictured). Valentine also appears in the Resident Evil film series, portrayed by actor Sienna Guillory, and in several other game franchises, including Street Fighter, Marvel vs. Capcom and Project X Zone. Video game publications praised Valentine as the most likable and consistent Resident Evil character. Several publications praised the series for making Valentine as competent and skilled as her male counterparts and for avoiding sexual objectification; others criticized her costumes as overtly sexual, and argued that her role as a heroine was weakened by her unrealistic features. (Full article...)

Recently featured:

Did you know ...

Makiyakinabe

... that Japanese rolled omelettes are made with rectangular pans (examples pictured)?
... that the uncle–nephew conflict between Liu Xianshi and Wang Wenhua in the Guizhou clique involved student organizations, an attempted assassination, and a violent coup?
... that in order to bypass political changes demanded by Germany at the 1940 Salzburg Conference, Slovakia adopted the Führer principle?
... that after a car accident left him unable to play brass instruments, Native American musician R. Carlos Nakai began playing a traditional cedar flute, and went on to receive eleven Grammy nominations?
... that Pope Alexander VI granted a plenary indulgence to those willing to work on the demolition of the Meta Romuli?
... that British aviation businessman Christopher Harborne donated £5 million to the Brexit Party in 2019?
... that forests on the Massif des Maures experience frequent fires, but the thick bark of the cork oak helps it to survive?
... that Irish neuroscientist Sabina Brennan was a soap actress in the television series Fair City before she started investigating dementia?

In the news

Murchison meteorite fragment

Mikhail Mishustin is appointed Prime Minister of Russia following the resignation of Dmitry Medvedev and his cabinet.
Scientists announce that presolar stardust grains in the Murchison meteorite (fragment pictured) formed five to seven billion years ago, and are the oldest solid material found on Earth to date.
In American football, the LSU Tigers defeat the Clemson Tigers to win the College Football National Championship.

On this day

January 19: World Religion Day (2020)

William V, Prince of Orange

649 – Conquest of the Western Turks: Kuchean forces surrendered after a siege, establishing Tang control over the northern Tarim Basin in what is now Xinjiang, China.
1795 – The Batavian Republic was established, a day after Prince William V (portrait shown) fled the Dutch Republic as a result of the Batavian Revolution in Amsterdam.
1920 – The American Civil Liberties Union was founded by the directors of the National Civil Liberties Bureau.
1930 – In Watsonville, California, tensions between nativists and Filipino Americans escalated into riots that later spread to other cities in the state.
1975 – An earthquake registering 6.8 M_s struck northern Himachal Pradesh in India, causing extensive damage to the region.

Giuseppe Millico (b. 1737) · Edgar Allan Poe (b. 1809) · K. Sello Duiker (d. 2005)

More anniversaries:

Today's featured picture

The white-faced plover (Charadrius alexandrinus dealbatus) is a small shorebird, usually considered to be a subspecies of the Kentish plover. With a length of about 17 cm (6.7 in), it differs from the latter in having a thicker, blunter beak, white lores, paler crown and overparts, less black on the lateral breast patches and a larger white wingbar. The bird is found in south-eastern China, Vietnam, Thailand, peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra, and is partially migratory.

Seen here on the mudflats of Laem Phak Bia in Thailand, the white-faced plover feeds on the foreshore, searching visually for prey then dashing forward to catch the animal or probe in the substrate with its beak. Its diet consists of small invertebrates such as insects and their larvae, spiders, molluscs, crustaceans and marine worms. Its breeding habits are not known.

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.