Wikipedia:Main Page history/2020 September 12

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From today's featured article

Muslim pilgrim praying in the direction of the Kaaba

The qibla is the direction towards the Kaaba in the Sacred Mosque, Mecca, Saudi Arabia, which is used by Muslims in various religious contexts, including ritual prayer. Muslims believe the Kaaba to be a sacred site built by the prophets Abraham and Ishmael, and that its use was ordained by God in several verses of the Quran revealed in the second Hijri year. Prior to this revelation, Muhammad and his followers in Medina faced Jerusalem for prayers. Most mosques contain a mihrab or a wall niche that indicates the direction of the qibla. Before the development of astronomy in the Islamic world, Muslims used traditional methods to determine the qibla. These methods included facing the direction that the companions of Muhammad had used when in the same place or using the setting and rising points of celestial objects. In the late 9th and 10th centuries, Muslim astronomers developed methods to find the exact direction of the qibla, and today it can be calculated using a trigonometric formula. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Nihonga painting by Kimura Buzan

... that a gallery of 80 paintings near Meiji Shrine in Tokyo commemorates the life and times of the Meiji Emperor, including his viewing of cherry blossoms (depicted) ?
... that Major O. S. Kalkat stumbled upon plans of an invasion of Kashmir in 1947, but no one believed him until the invasion actually started?
... that the Red Caboose Motel has the largest privately owned collection of railroad cabooses in the world?
... that Klaviermusik mit Orchester, a 1923 piano concerto for the left hand by Paul Hindemith, was first performed in 2004 by Leon Fleisher and the Berlin Philharmonic?
... that the Polish activist Bartosz Staszewski created a series of photographs of LGBT people who live in "LGBT-free zones"?
... that 14 players and the coach of the 1970 Wichita State Shockers football team died when its "Gold" plane crashed in the Colorado mountains?
... that zebra tangs often associate with shoals of convict tangs?
... that John H. Dudley and his wife both worked on the Manhattan Project, but did not tell each other because of security restrictions?

In the news

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

Andrew Holness

Andrew Holness (pictured) is sworn in as prime minister after the Jamaica Labour Party win the general election.
Flooding in Sudan kills at least 100 people and leaves more than 100,000 others homeless.
Scientists confirm the first detection, using gravitational-wave astronomy, of a black hole in the upper mass gap.
Parliamentary elections in Montenegro result in the first victory for opposition parties in 30 years.

On this day

September 12

Mae Jemison

1309 – Reconquista: Castilian forces captured Gibraltar from the Emirate of Granada.
1910 – Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 8, one of the largest-scale choral works in the classical concert repertoire, was first performed in Munich.
1948 – The People's Liberation Army launched the Liaoshen campaign, the first of the three major military campaigns during the late stage of the Chinese Civil War.
1977 – South African anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko died after being beaten in police custody in Port Elizabeth.
1992 – Aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour, American Mae Jemison (pictured) became the first black woman to travel to space.

Eleanora Atherton (d. 1870)
Irène Joliot-Curie (b. 1897)
Atef Ebeid (d. 2014)

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Today's featured picture

The spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) is the largest member of the hyena family, Hyaenidae; it can be distinguished from related species by its vaguely bear-like build, rounded ears, less prominent mane and spotted pelt. Native to sub-Saharan Africa, it is the most social of the Carnivora in having the largest group sizes and most complex social behaviours. Although the species suffers from habitat loss and poaching, its wide distribution and large total population has led to it being assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as being of least concern. This spotted hyena was photographed in Etosha National Park, Namibia.

Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp

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