Wikipedia:Main Page history/2021 August 16b

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From today's featured article

Dimple Kapadia (born 1957) is an Indian actress of Hindi films. She was discovered at age 14 by Raj Kapoor, who cast her in the title role of Bobby, a major success in 1973. The same year, she married and then quit acting until 1984. Both Bobby and her comeback film Saagar (1985) won her Filmfare Awards for Best Actress. She established herself as a leading lady in both mainstream and parallel Hindi cinema and won acclaim for Kaash (1987), Drishti (1990) and Lekin (1991). Her portrayal of a professional mourner in Rudaali (1993) won her a Filmfare Critics Award and the National Film Award for Best Actress; a supporting role in Krantiveer (1994) earned her a fourth Filmfare Award. Less active in later decades, Kapadia played troubled middle-aged women in Dil Chahta Hai (2001) and Leela (2002). She followed with several leading roles, but character parts in films including Luck by Chance (2009), Finding Fanny (2014) and the Hollywood thriller Tenet (2020) brought her more success. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Marble Arch Mound

... that the Marble Arch Mound (pictured) in central London has been compared to the hill in Teletubbies?
... that director Mamoru Hosoda's original concept for his 1999 film Digimon Adventure was a story set against the backdrop of the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo?
... that reproductive success in the lined sea hare can be reduced by noise pollution?
... that brewer Alexander Gordon paid to build the Polhollick Bridge in Aberdeenshire in 1892 after witnessing a drowning incident at the ferry crossing?
... that in 2016, Hurricane Pali and Hurricane Alex existed simultaneously as rare January hurricanes within the Pacific and Atlantic hurricane basins, respectively, marking the first such occurrence on record?
... that a reviewer wrote that Florian Boesch's 2011 recording of Winterreise with Malcolm Martineau was "one of the most powerful lieder albums of recent years"?
... that the South Bronx Greenway includes recycled granite from the Willis Avenue Bridge?
... that Donald Trump had a "big smile plastered on his face" on the day the "Best Sex I've Ever Had" happened?

In the news

Haiti earthquake damage

The Afghan government collapses as the capital city of Kabul falls to the Taliban offensive.
A 7.2-magnitude earthquake in Haiti (damage pictured) kills more than 1,400 people.
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.

On this day

August 16

Skookum Jim Mason

1863 – Following Spain's annexation of the Dominican Republic, nationalist rebels raised the Dominican flag in Santiago de los Caballeros to begin the War of Restoration.
1896 – A group including George Carmack and Skookum Jim Mason (pictured) discovered gold near Dawson City, Canada, setting off the Klondike Gold Rush.
1906 – An earthquake registering approximately 8.2 M_w struck Valparaíso, Chile, killing 3,882 people.
1946 – Widespread riots between Hindus and Muslims took place in Calcutta following the All-India Muslim League's call for an independent Pakistan.
2015 – Suicide bombers assassinated Pakistani politician Shuja Khanzada and killed at least 21 others at his home in Attock District.

Theodore II Laskaris (d. 1258)
Elsie Inglis (b. 1864)
Tara Teng (b. 1988)

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Seal of the University of Illinois system

There have been 20 presidents of the University of Illinois system, a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Illinois. The president is the chief executive officer and a faculty member of each of its colleges, schools, institutions, and divisions. Elected by the board of trustees, the president is responsible to them for the operation of the system by preparing budgets, recommending persons for appointment to university positions, and enforcing the rules and regulations of the universities. Following the establishment of the office in 1867, John Milton Gregory served as the first president, originally titled "regent". Three presidents, Lloyd Morey, James J. Stukel, and Robert A. Easter, are alumni of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The current president is Timothy L. Killeen, who has held the position since 2015. (Full list...)

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Today's featured picture

Destruction is the fourth in a series of five oil-on-canvas paintings entitled The Course of Empire, created by the American artist Thomas Cole between 1833 and 1836. The series, now in the collection of the New-York Historical Society, depicts the growth and fall of an imaginary city, situated at the lower end of a river valley. In this painting, a fleet of enemy vessels have sailed up the river, bringing warriors who have overthrown the city's defenses and are ransacking the city and killing and raping its inhabitants.

Painting credit: Thomas Cole

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