Wikipedia:Main Page history/2020 November 17

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From today's featured article

Reverse of a 1959 sovereign

The sovereign is a legal-tender gold coin of the United Kingdom with a nominal value of one pound sterling. Struck from 1817 until the present time, it was originally a circulating coin accepted in Britain and elsewhere in the world; it is now a bullion coin and is sometimes mounted in jewellery. In most recent years, it has borne the well-known design of Saint George and the Dragon on the reverse (pictured), created by Benedetto Pistrucci. Issued as part of the Great Recoinage of 1816, it not only became a popular circulating coin, but was used internationally, trusted as a coin containing a known quantity of gold. From the 1850s until 1932, the sovereign was also struck at colonial mints. With the start of the First World War in 1914, the sovereign vanished from circulation in Britain, replaced by paper money, and it did not return afterwards. In addition to its bullion use, it has been struck since 1979 for collectors. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Tourist taking a picture at the Berlin Holocaust memorial

... that Rhian Sugden, Priyanka Chopra, and Pete Buttigieg have all been the subject of controversy due to social-media photographs taken at the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe (pictured)?
... that a rare microscope designed by Joseph Zentmayer is on display at the Delaware County Institute of Science?
... that the unusual given name of Chilean travel writer Maipina de la Barra commemorates the Battle of Maipú, in which her father fought?
... that one of the inhabited initials of the 12th-century Necrologium Lundense illuminated manuscript shows influences from Viking art?
... that former NCAA president Judith Sweet chose to pursue a career in physical education following a blind date?
... that the 1906–1907 weekly Der nayer veg (The New Path) contained some of the earliest critical scholarly writings on Yiddish language and literature?
... that First World War flying ace Max Näther was appointed as commander of his squadron at age 18?
... that the theme tune to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is actually an Eagles song?

In the news

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

SpaceX Crew-1 launching from Kennedy Space Center

SpaceX Crew-1 launches (pictured) with astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, Soichi Noguchi, and Shannon Walker.
Lewis Hamilton wins the Formula One World Championship, while Mercedes win the constructors' title.
In Peru, following the impeachment and removal of President Martín Vizcarra, interim president Manuel Merino resigns amidst nationwide protests.
Typhoon Vamco makes landfall in Vietnam, after crossing the Philippines and killing at least 69 people.

On this day

November 17

14th Dalai Lama

1558 – Elizabeth I became Queen of England and of Ireland, marking the beginning of the Elizabethan era.
1839 – Giuseppe Verdi's first opera, Oberto, premiered at La Scala in Milan.
1950 – The 14th Dalai Lama (pictured) assumed full temporal power as ruler of Tibet at the age of fifteen.
1997 – Sixty-two people were killed by Islamist terrorists outside Deir el-Bahari in Luxor, one of Egypt's top tourist attractions.
2013 – Tatarstan Airlines Flight 363 crashed during an aborted landing at Kazan International Airport, Russia, killing all fifty people on board and leading to the revocation of the airline's operating certificate.

Nicolas Appert (b. 1749)
Bernardo Bellotto (d. 1780)
Robert Hofstadter (d. 1990)

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Today's featured picture

The paddyfield pipit (Anthus rufulus) is a passerine bird in the family Motacillidae, comprising pipits, longclaws and wagtails. About 15 cm (6 in) in length and native to southern Asia, its plumage in both sexes is greyish-brown above and paler yellowish-brown below, with dark streaking on the breast. A bird of open country, pasture and cultivated fields, it sometimes makes short flights, but mostly runs on the ground, foraging for insects and other small invertebrates. The paddyfield pipit builds its cup-shaped nest in a concealed location on the ground, and may have two or more broods in a year. This A. r. rufulus individual was photographed in Kanha Tiger Reserve, in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.

Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp

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