Wikipedia:Main Page history/2021 January 29b

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The Pyramid of Nyuserre is a pyramid complex built in the 25th century BC for the Egyptian pharaoh Nyuserre Ini of the Fifth Dynasty. It is in the Abusir necropolis south of modern-day Cairo between the complexes of Neferirkare and of Sahure. Nyuserre was the last king to be entombed in the necropolis. The main pyramid, nearly 52 m (171 ft) tall, had a stepped core built from roughly cut limestone encased in fine Tura limestone. The casing was stripped by stone thieves, leaving the core exposed to the elements and further human activity, reducing the pyramid to a ruined mound. Adjoining the pyramid's east face is the mortuary temple built in an L-shape rather than the usual T-shape plan. It introduced the antichambre carrée, an innovative type of room that became a standard feature of later monuments. The site has two structures which appear to have been pylon prototypes. These, too, became staple features of temples and palaces in a later period. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Mahdist wearing a jibba (1936)

... that the jibba (pictured), a Sudanese coat, symbolised a dedication to a religious way of life and denoted the military rank of the wearer?
... that during the filming of 6 Day Bike Rider, sixteen bicyclists hit the cameraman's motorcycle, which resulted in nine of them being injured?
... that Pierre Daumesnil refused to surrender the Château de Vincennes after the French Empire had been defeated at the Battle of Paris in 1814?
... that in advance of the 2021 general election, Morocco outlawed the making of certain types of online posts?
... that the true identity of the British crime writer Francis Duncan was unknown until after a reprint of his 1949 novel Murder for Christmas?
... that when a proposed sale of Orlando-area radio station WVCF fell through, the attempted buyer started his own station?
... that Joe Jackson's 1984 album Body and Soul emulated the artwork of the 1957 jazz album Sonny Rollins, Vol. 2?
... that a Latin translation of Winnie-the-Pooh spent 20 weeks on The New York Times Best Seller list?

In the news

Kaja Kallas

Reddit users launch a coordinated short squeeze targeting GameStop's stock, causing its price to spike.
Kaja Kallas (pictured) becomes the first female prime minister of Estonia, following the resignation of Jüri Ratas.
In Russia, protests against the arrest of Alexei Navalny occur in more than 120 towns and cities.

On this day

January 29

"Mantra-Rock Dance" poster

1814 – War of the Sixth Coalition: At the Battle of Brienne, both sides' commanders, Napoleon and Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, were nearly captured.
1891 – Liliʻuokalani, the last monarch and only queen regnant of the Hawaiian Kingdom, ascended the throne.
1943 – World War II: The Battle of Rennell Island, the last major naval engagement between the United States Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy during the Guadalcanal campaign, began.
1967 – The Mantra-Rock Dance (poster pictured), called the "ultimate high" of the hippie era, took place in San Francisco, featuring Swami Bhaktivedanta, Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead, and Allen Ginsberg.
1991 – The first major ground engagement of the Gulf War began with the Iraqi invasion of Khafji, Saudi Arabia, recaptured three days later by Coalition forces.

Pope Gelasius II (d. 1119)
Geraldine Pittman Woods (b. 1921)
Colleen McCullough (d. 2015)

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English singer Dua Lipa is the recipient of numerous awards. Lipa signed a record deal with Warner Music Group in 2015 and released her self-titled debut album in 2017, which earned her nominations for Album of the Year at the 2017 BBC Music Awards, MasterCard British Album of the Year at the 2018 Brit Awards, and won International Album of the Year at the thirteenth edition of the LOS40 Music Awards. She won Best New Artist and Best Dance Recording for "Electricity", a collaboration with British-American duo Silk City, at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards. Lipa has been nominated for ten Brit Awards, eight Grammy Awards and seven NME Awards, winning three, two and one respectively. In 2018, she became the first female artist to receive five nominations in a single year at the Brit Awards. (Full list...)

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Aminah Cendrakasih (born 29 January 1938) is an Indonesian actress. She started in films in her teens, her first starring role being in 1955. She continued acting into her seventies, appearing in almost 120 feature films during her career, as well as in several television roles. In 2012, she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Bandung Film Festival, and received another at the 2013 Indonesian Movie Awards.

Photograph credit: Tati Studio; restored by Chris Woodrich

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