Wikipedia:Main Page history/2020 November 18

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From today's featured article

Thomas White (1888–1957) was an Australian politician and First World War pilot. In 1915, he was among the first Australian Flying Corps members to see action when he was deployed to the Middle East with the Mesopotamian Half Flight. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and twice mentioned in despatches for his war service. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1929. He served as Minister for Trade and Customs in Joseph Lyons's United Australia Party government from 1933 to 1938, but resigned when he was excluded from Lyons's inner cabinet. After service in the Royal Australian Air Force during the Second World War, he returned to parliament in 1945 as a member of the newly formed Liberal Party. From 1949 to 1951, he was Minister for Air and Minister for Civil Aviation in Robert Menzies's government. He was Australia's high commissioner to the United Kingdom from 1951 to 1956, and was knighted in 1952. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

William "Fatty" Foulke

... that after awarding a controversial goal in the 1902 FA Cup Final, referee Tom Kirkham took refuge in a broom cupboard to evade angry goalkeeper William "Fatty" Foulke (pictured)?
... that the Moriguchi Route in Osaka has a mini rest area on one of its entrance ramps?
... that American fashion designer Michelle Smith created the dress for Michelle Obama’s official portrait?
... that the Marri rose in rebellion in Balochistan in 1918 because they heard rumours of British defeats in the First World War?
... that Jean Ritchie formed her own record label "out of self-defense" following distribution problems with None but One?
... that Anna Hájková says her research into LGBT people and the Holocaust "shows a more complex, more human, and more real society beyond monsters and saints"?
... that the parasitic wasp Diadegma semiclausum can help to control the diamondback moth, a pest that has become resistant to many insecticides?
... that John R. Casani used to carry the Pioneer 3 and Pioneer 4 spacecraft in a suitcase?

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.
Maia Sandu is elected first female President of Moldova.
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.

On this day

November 18

Susan B. Anthony

1809 – Napoleonic Wars: In the Bay of Bengal, a French frigate squadron captured three East Indiamen mainly carrying recruits for the Indian Army.
1872 – American suffragette Susan B. Anthony (pictured) was arrested and fined $100 for having voted in the presidential election two weeks earlier.
1956 – At the Polish embassy in Moscow, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev used the phrase "We will bury you" while addressing Western envoys, prompting them to leave the room.
1978 – Jim Jones led more than 900 members of the Peoples Temple to mass murder/suicide in Jonestown, Guyana, hours after some of its members assassinated U.S. Congressman Leo Ryan.

Itzam Kʼan Ahk II (b. 701)
Adam Weishaupt (d. 1830)
Wilma Mankiller (b. 1945)

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Today's featured picture

Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park, the first coastal national park of Thailand, was established in 1966 and covers 98 square kilometres (38 sq mi) of Prachuap Khiri Khan Province. It includes a limestone sub-range of the Tenasserim Hills, freshwater marshes, mangrove forests and sandy beaches. The large Phraya Nakhon Cave, pictured here, has an opening in its roof through which sunlight streams. The historic Khuha Kharuehat Pavilion within the cave was built for a visit by King Chulalongkorn in 1890 and is directly illuminated for a short period each day during certain months of the year. Later kings, including Vajiravudh and Bhumibol Adulyadej, have also visited the site.

Photograph credit: Janepop Atirattanachai

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