Wikipedia:Main Page history/2021 August 5

the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

From today's featured article

Obverse

The York County, Maine, Tercentenary half dollar is a fifty-cent piece minted in 1936 as a commemorative coin to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the founding of York County, the southernmost county in Maine and the first to be organized. The obverse shows Brown's Garrison, a fort around which York County developed, while the reverse depicts the county's arms. A commemorative coin craze in 1936 saw some coins authorized by the United States Congress that were of mainly local significance; the York County issue was one of these, passing Congress without opposition in the first half of 1936. Maine artist Walter H. Rich designed the issue; his work has garnered mixed praise and dislike from numismatic authors. The Philadelphia Mint struck 25,000 for public sale. Less than 19,000 sold by 1937, more than half to Mainers; the rest were sold in the 1950s. As of 2021, the York County half dollar catalogs for around $200, depending on condition. (Full article...)

Recently featured:

Did you know ...

Alica Schmidt

... that German runner Alica Schmidt (pictured), who is running in the Women's 4 × 400 metres relay at the 2020 Summer Olympics, has won multiple European junior relay medals?
... that the title of the album Red by Taylor Swift refers to the tumultuous "red" emotions that were evoked from an unhealthy romance she was experiencing during the album's conception?
... that Donald R. Morris wrote most of The Washing of the Spears, his history of the Anglo-Zulu War, during a five-year CIA posting to Berlin at the time of the construction of the Berlin Wall?
... that the equipment situation for the National Pacification Army was so poor that some soldiers were armed with spears instead of guns?
... that British modern pentathlete Jo Muir qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics despite missing the last qualification event due to COVID-19–related travel restrictions?
... that the short-lived Socialist Soviet Republic of Lithuania and Belorussia had a Yiddish-language state theatre?
... that Fallout was considered a risky project by developer Interplay Entertainment and was threatened with cancellation three times?
... that KICU-TV in Visalia, California, claimed to be the most powerful TV station west of the Mississippi River after a transmitter upgrade—and closed for good two years later?

In the news

Krystsina Tsimanouskaya

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.
In Olympic athletics, Venezuelan Yulimar Rojas breaks a 26-year-old world record in the women's triple jump, and world records are set in men's and women's 400 metres hurdles by Norwegian Karsten Warholm and American Sydney McLaughlin.
Wildfires in southern Turkey kill at least eight people and injure more than 800 others.

On this day

August 5: Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day in Croatia (1995)

Bertha Benz's Patent-Motorwagen

641 or 642 – King Penda of Mercia defeated and killed King Oswald of Northumbria at the Battle of Maserfield, traditionally believed to have been fought in Oswestry, Shropshire, England.
1600 – Scottish nobleman John Ruthven, 3rd Earl of Gowrie, was killed during what was most likely a failed attempt to kidnap King James VI.
1888 – Bertha Benz made the first long-distance automobile trip, driving 106 km (66 mi) from Mannheim to Pforzheim, Germany, in a Benz Patent-Motorwagen (pictured).
1981 – U.S. president Ronald Reagan fired the 11,345 striking members of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization en masse.
2011 – NASA launched the Juno probe to Jupiter as part of the New Frontiers program.

Edmund of Woodstock (b. 1301)
Harry Trott (b. 1866)
Alec Guinness (d. 2000)

More anniversaries:

Today's featured picture

Don César de Bazan is an opéra comique in four acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Adolphe d'Ennery, Dumanoir and Jules Chantepie, based on a play by d'Ennery and Dumanoir first performed in 1844. This in turn drew on the popular character of Don César de Bazan from the 1838 drama Ruy Blas by Victor Hugo, despite having little connection with the plot of Hugo's drama. This poster, engraved by Célestin Nanteuil, advertised the opera's premiere, which took place at the Opéra-Comique in Paris on 30 November 1872.

Engraving credit: Célestin Nanteuil; restored by Adam Cuerden

Recently featured:

Other areas of Wikipedia

Community portal – Bulletin board, projects, resources and activities covering a wide range of Wikipedia areas.
Help desk – Ask questions about using Wikipedia.
Reference desk – Serving as virtual librarians, Wikipedia volunteers tackle your questions on a wide range of subjects.
Site news – Announcements, updates, articles and press releases on Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Foundation.
Village pump – For discussions about Wikipedia itself, including areas for technical issues and policies.