Wikipedia:Main Page history/2020 June 18

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From today's featured article

Meinhard Moser (1924–2002) was an Austrian mycologist. His work principally concerned the taxonomy, chemistry, and toxicity of gilled mushrooms (Agaricales), especially the genus Cortinarius. Moser completed his doctorate at the University of Innsbruck in 1950, then briefly worked in England. He joined Austria's Federal Forestry Research Institute in 1952, conducting research on the use of mycorrhizal fungi in reforestation. He began lecturing at Innsbruck in 1956, becoming a professor in 1964. He became the inaugural head of Austria's first Institute of Microbiology in 1972. He remained with the Institute until his retirement in 1991, and his scientific studies continued until his death in 2002. He was an influential mycologist, describing around 500 new fungal taxa and publishing several important books. In particular, his 1953 book on European mushrooms, published in English as Keys to Agarics and Boleti, saw several editions both in German and in translation. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Fonthill Casket, from the Khalili Collection of Spanish metalwork

... that Plácido Zuloaga trained more than two hundred artists to make damascened artworks (example pictured)?
... that a group of escaped German prisoners established a short-lived Nazi state in the Dutch East Indies?
... that in the 1980s, textile conservator Martand Singh organized a series of exhibitions to rekindle interest in the weaving and dyeing traditions of India?
... that the Laguna Creek watershed debouches into the San Francisco Bay near the site of the ghost town of Drawbridge?
... that the board of directors of Canadian cooperative television station CFVO-TV refused to accept the resignation of its president so that he could negotiate a loan?
... that the abduction of the Georgian demoness Samdzimari and her subsequent conversion to goddess may have been derived from the Christian story of Saint George and the Dragon?
... that the composition of the 1st Wyoming Territorial Legislature was entirely Democratic?
... that the Soviet Union women's national rugby union team bartered smuggled vodka and caviar to cover their living expenses at the 1991 Women's Rugby World Cup?

In the news

COVID-19 pandemic

U.S. Supreme Court Building

At least twenty soldiers are killed during skirmishes along the Line of Actual Control between China and India.
The U.S. Supreme Court (building pictured) rules that gay and transgender people are protected from employment discrimination under the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Burundian president Pierre Nkurunziza dies in office at the age of 55.

On this day

June 18

Rus' forces under the walls of Constantinople

860 – A fleet of about 200 Rus' vessels sailed into the Bosporus and started pillaging the suburbs of Constantinople (depicted).
1858 – Charles Darwin received a manuscript by fellow naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace on natural selection, which encouraged Darwin to publish his theory of evolution.
1940 – World War II: Charles de Gaulle gave his Appeal of 18 June speech, often considered to be the origin of the French Resistance.
1983 – Iranian teenager Mona Mahmudnizhad and nine other women were hanged in Shiraz because of their membership in the Baháʼí Faith.
2012 – Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud was appointed crown prince of Saudi Arabia.

William Cobbett (d. 1835)
Alice T. Schafer (b. 1915)
Isabella Rossellini (b. 1952)

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Today's featured picture

The brown-eared bulbul (Hypsipetes amaurotis) is a medium-sized bulbul native to eastern Asia. Reaching a length of about 28 cm (11 in), it is grayish-brown, with brown cheeks (the "brown ears" of the common name), a small spiky crest and a long tail. A bird of the forest canopy, it is also found in plantations, parks and gardens. During the summer, the bird feeds primarily on insects, but in the winter the diet consists mainly of fruits and seeds. In addition, it feeds on nectar from Camellia flowers, becoming dusted with pollen in the process. This brown-eared bulbul was photographed in Tennōji Park in Osaka, Japan.

Photograph credit: Laitche

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