Wikipedia:Main Page history/2021 August 11b

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From today's featured article

Arthur Sullivan (1896–1937) was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross. Born in South Australia, Sullivan enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force during World War I. Sent to the United Kingdom, he completed training after the Armistice came into effect. Wanting to see active service, he sought his discharge and enlisted in the British Army with the North Russia Relief Force, part of the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War. In the early morning of 11 August 1919 he was a member of a rearguard withdrawing across the Sheika River in North Russia. As his platoon crossed the river on a one-plank bridge, it came under intense fire from Bolshevik troops, and four men fell into the river. Sullivan jumped in and rescued all four, one by one; he was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions. He was part of the Australian Coronation Contingent in London for the coronation of King George VI in 1937 when he died of head injuries received in a fall. (Full article...)

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In the news

Krystsina Tsimanouskaya

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change releases the first part of its Sixth Assessment Report on the state of knowledge of climate change and its effects.
The Summer Olympics close in Tokyo, Japan, with the United States winning the most gold and total medals.
Belarusian sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya (pictured) travels to Poland on a humanitarian visa after attempts by the Belarus Olympic Committee to repatriate her against her will.

On this day

August 11: Independence Day in Chad (1960)

Hussein of Jordan

106 – The region of Dacia, comprising parts of modern Romania, became a province of the Roman Empire.
1492 – The first papal conclave to be held in the Sistine Chapel elected Roderic Borja as Pope Alexander VI to succeed Innocent VIII.
1786 – Francis Light founded George Town, the first British settlement in Southeast Asia and the present-day capital of the Malaysian state of Penang.
1952 – King Talal of Jordan was forced to abdicate due to health reasons and was succeeded by his eldest son Hussein (pictured).
1973 – At a party in New York City, Jamaican musician DJ Kool Herc began rapping during an extended break, laying the foundation for hip-hop music.

Hamnet Shakespeare (bur. 1596)
James B. Longacre (b. 1794)
Aaron Klug (b. 1926)

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Today's featured picture

The oriental hornet (Vespa orientalis) is a social insect in the family Vespidae, found in southern Europe, northeastern Africa, and western Asia. This worker, photographed in Sha'ar Poleg Reserve in Israel, is gathering nectar from a sea squill; adults will also feed on honeydew and fruit. They also capture insects such as grasshoppers, flies and honey bees to provide a diet high in protein for the colony's brood.

Photograph credit: Gideon Pisanty

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