Wikipedia:Main Page history/2020 March 30

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From today's featured article

Statue of Secretariat at Belmont Park

Secretariat (March 30, 1970 – October 4, 1989) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who, in 1973, became the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years. Secretariat set speed records in all three Triple Crown races. His time of 1:59²⁄₅ in the Kentucky Derby still stands as the Churchill Downs track record for 1 ¹⁄₄ miles. His disputed time in the Preakness Stakes was recognized as a stakes record in 2012. He won the Belmont Stakes by 31 lengths, setting an American record for 1 ¹⁄₂ miles on dirt that still stands. He also set a world record in the Marlboro Cup, and proved his versatility by winning two major stakes races on turf. His 1972–1973 racing career resulted in five Eclipse Awards, including American Horse of the Year honors both years. Of The Blood-Horse's Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century, Secretariat ranks second only to Man o' War. After siring several major stakes winners, Secretariat died at age 19 of complications from laminitis. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Rain (1889)

... that Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh used slanted lines to depict rainfall in his 1889 painting Rain (shown), drawing inspiration from Japanese prints such as those by Hiroshige?
... that English judoka Samantha Lowe was selected, then deselected, then reselected for the 2002 Commonwealth Games, and went on to win a gold medal?
... that Shueisha, the publisher of Weekly Shōnen Jump, has produced a manga series in collaboration with Marvel Comics?
... that Jeffrey Erickson, who was accused of robbing banks in the Chicago metropolitan area with his wife Jill, was a former police officer in Hoffman Estates?
... that the Royal Irish Yacht Club has retained its royal title despite the establishment of the Republic of Ireland?
... that Gösta Neuwirth studied composition and musicology in Vienna, but wrote his dissertation on harmony in Schreker's opera Der ferne Klang in Berlin?
... that the Whitehall Building in New York City was developed by a company headed by the inventor of Vaseline?
... that during the first siege of Wardour Castle in 1643, Lady Blanche Arundell held out for a week with just 25 Royalist soldiers against 1,300 Parliamentarian troops?

In the news

Coronavirus pandemic

NATO member states

North Macedonia becomes a member of NATO (map of member states pictured).
The 2020 Summer Olympics are postponed for one year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Igor Matovič becomes Prime Minister of Slovakia following elections in February.

On this day

March 30: Land Day (Palestinians, 1976)

Moments after the attempted assassination of Reagan

1861 – British chemist William Crookes published his discovery of thallium, which he had done using flame spectroscopy.
1867 – U.S. secretary of state William H. Seward negotiated the purchase of Alaska from Russia for US$7.2 million.
1950 – Usmar Ismail began shooting Darah dan Doa, widely recognised as the first Indonesian film.
1972 – Vietnam War: North Vietnamese forces began the Easter Offensive in an attempt to gain as much territory and destroy as many South Vietnamese units as possible.
1981 – Trying to impress actress Jodie Foster, obsessed fan John Hinckley Jr. shot and wounded U.S. president Ronald Reagan and three others outside the Washington Hilton hotel (immediate aftermath pictured).

Ralph Sadler (d. 1587) · Beau Brummell (d. 1840) · Celine Dion (b. 1968)

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From today's featured list

Jennifer Love Hewitt

American actress and singer Jennifer Love Hewitt has released four studio albums, a compilation album, seven music videos, and thirteen singles, as well as five promotional singles. She released her debut studio album, Love Songs, under the name "Love Hewitt" in March 1992; it included three singles: "Dancing Queen", "What's It Gonna Take", and "Please Save Us the World". Hewitt received attention for her performance in the family drama Party of Five. During this success, she signed with Atlantic and released two studio albums: Let's Go Bang in September 1995 and a self-titled album in September 1996. Hewitt recorded the single "How Do I Deal" for the soundtrack of the 1998 slasher film I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, in which she had a starring role. The song reached number 59 on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as number 8 on the Australian songs chart and number 5 on the New Zealand songs chart. It received a gold certification from the Australian Recording Industry Association and is the best-selling song of her career. (Full list...)

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Today's featured picture

The Absinthe Drinker is a painting by Édouard Manet, dating to around 1859 and considered to be his first major painting. It is a full-length portrait of an alcoholic who frequented the area around the Louvre in Paris. The subject, painted in mostly brown, grey and black tones, wears a black top hat and a brown cloak, leaning on a ledge with the empty bottle discarded by his feet. Manet later added a half-full glass of absinthe on the ledge.

The Absinthe Drinker was the first work that Manet submitted to the Paris Salon in 1859. It was rejected with only Eugène Delacroix voting in its favour. Part of the reason for its rejection may be its subject; absinthe was considered morally degenerate, and this was one of the earliest depictions of absinthe in art. According to art historian Charles F. Stuckey, the painting presented in 1859 may have been significantly different and inferior to the current version. The painting is now in the collection at the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen.

Painting credit: Édouard Manet

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