Wikipedia:Main Page history/2021 July 31

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From today's featured article

The white-eyed river martin (Pseudochelidon sirintarae) is a passerine bird in the swallow family. First found in 1968, it is known only from a single wintering site in Thailand, and may be extinct, since there have been no confirmed sightings since 1980 despite targeted surveys in Thailand and Cambodia. The adult has mainly glossy greenish-black plumage, a white rump, and a tail with two long central feathers that widen to a racket-shaped tip. It has a white eye ring and a broad, bright greenish-yellow bill. The juvenile lacks the tail ornaments and is browner. Like other swallows, it feeds on insects caught in flight, and its wide bill suggests that it may take relatively large species. It roosts in reed beds in winter, and may nest in river sandbanks. Its apparent demise may have been hastened by trapping, loss of habitat and dam construction. The martin is one of only two birds endemic to Thailand. The country's government has featured the bird on a stamp and a commemorative coin. (This article is part of a featured topic: River martin.)

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Did you know ...

Salome's Dance by Leopold Schmutzler

... that Lili Marberg, an actress at the Burgtheater in Vienna from 1911 to 1950, was painted performing Wilde's Salome in Munich (painting pictured)?
... that Climate TRACE will be Tracking Real-Time Atmospheric Carbon Emissions?
... that New York City's Olympic Tower was meant to reflect St. Patrick's Cathedral but instead gave the city "the back of its hand"?
... that Victor Hugo Tinoco was a deputy in the National Assembly of Nicaragua, first for the Sandinista National Liberation Front, then for the opposition Sandinista Renovation Movement?
... that the 1972 documentary Elvis on Tour became the only film starring Elvis Presley to win an award?
... that the music minister, seminary student, and pageant contestant Leah Boyd became an Internet celebrity due to her comedic and satirical commentary on Twitter?
... that Tropical Storm Eliakim enhanced rainfall and brought flooding to Kenya despite the storm making landfall on Madagascar?
... that after Euclid proved that every Mersenne prime leads to an even perfect number, it took more than 2000 years before Leonhard Euler proved that every even perfect number comes from a Mersenne prime?

In the news

Road destroyed by floods near Satara

Flooding (damage pictured) in western Maharashtra, India, results in more than 250 deaths.
The Saint Lucia Labour Party wins the general election, and Philip Pierre becomes prime minister.
The 2020 Summer Olympics open in Tokyo, Japan.
The Australian city of Brisbane is announced as the host city of the 2032 Summer Olympics.
In sumo, Terunofuji Haruo becomes the 73rd yokozuna.
Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City in England is stripped of its status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to modern development in the area.

On this day

July 31: Lā Hae Hawaiʻi (Flag Day) and Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea (Sovereignty Restoration Day) in Hawaii (1843)

Mount Fuji

781 – The first recorded eruption of Japan's Mount Fuji (pictured) took place.
1423 – Hundred Years' War: The English and their Burgundian allies were victorious over the French at the Battle of Cravant near Auxerre, France.
1777 – The Second Continental Congress passed a resolution commissioning the Marquis de Lafayette as a major general in the American revolutionary forces.
1941 – The Holocaust: Under instructions from Adolf Hitler, Hermann Göring authorised SS General Reinhard Heydrich to handle preparations for "the Final Solution of the Jewish question".
1991 – Soviet Special Purpose Police Unit troops killed seven Lithuanian customs officials in Medininkai in the most serious attack of their campaign against Lithuanian border posts.

William Courtenay (d. 1396)
Jean-Gaspard Deburau (b. 1796)
J. K. Rowling (b. 1965)

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Today's featured picture

Coprinellus micaceus is a common species of fungus in the family Psathyrellaceae with a cosmopolitan distribution. It is a saprotrophic species, deriving nutrients from dead and decomposing wood. The fruiting body grows in clusters and is commonly known as the mica cap or shiny cap because of the fine layer of reflective mica-like cells on the cap surface. The fungus is edible soon after collection, but after a few hours, the gills begin to slowly dissolve into a black, inky, spore-laden liquid. These C. micaceus mushrooms were photographed near Erbach an der Donau, Germany.

Photograph credit: Holger Krisp

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