Wikipedia:Main Page history/2023 August 1b
From today's featured article
Edward Dando (c. 1803 – 1832) was a thief who overate at food stalls and inns, then revealed that he had no money to pay. He was particularly fond of oysters, once eating 300 in a sitting (cartoon pictured). Dando began his thefts in about 1826 and was arrested at least as early as 1828. Most of his activity was in London or Kent. He would often leave a house of correction, go on an eating spree the same day, be arrested straight away, and be put back in prison. He was put in solitary confinement at least once after he stole the rations of fellow prisoners. In August 1832, Dando caught cholera in prison and died. His death, like his exploits, was widely and sympathetically reported in the press. His name entered the public argot as a term for one who eats excessively and does not pay. He was the subject of numerous poems and ballads. William Makepeace Thackeray wrote a short story loosely based on Dando, which was made into a play. Charles Dickens also wrote about Dando, comparing him to Alexander the Great. (Full article...)
Did you know ...
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- ... that Catalina Estrada (pictured) and two of her thirteen siblings played as forwards on the same men's football team?
- ... that "Mission to the Unknown" is the only Doctor Who serial not to feature the Doctor at all?
- ... that Anita Gustafson became Presbyterian College's first female president when she took office today?
- ... that in 1835 the run of Brunswick Falls was 1,280 feet (390 m)?
- ... that Ben Collins accepted a job with NBC News on the condition that the company also hire Brandy Zadrozny?
- ... that years after premiering Shostakovich's Symphony No. 7 in the US, conductor Arturo Toscanini allegedly asked if he had really learned and conducted "such junk"?
- ... that Martin Farquhar Tupper was a favourite poet of Queen Victoria, but his works are now almost entirely forgotten?
- ... that orcas have been teaching each other to attack boats?
In the news
- In cricket, the Ashes concludes with Australia retaining the trophy, drawing the series against England (Compton–Miller Medal recipient Chris Woakes pictured).
- In cycling, Demi Vollering wins the Tour de France Femmes.
- In Pakistan, IS–KP kill more than 50 people in a suicide bombing at a political rally in Khar.
- In Rome, Emperor Nero's private theatre is discovered under the courtyard of Palazzo Della Rovere.
On this day
August 1: Lughnasadh in the Northern Hemisphere; Buwan ng Wika begins in the Philippines; PLA Day in China (1927)
- 30 BC – War of Actium: Octavian defeated the forces of Mark Antony and Cleopatra at Alexandria, establishing Roman Egypt.
- 902 – Arab–Byzantine wars: Led by Ibrahim II of Ifriqiya, Aghlabid forces captured the Byzantine stronghold of Taormina, concluding the Muslim conquest of Sicily.
- 1774 – British scientist Joseph Priestley (pictured) liberated oxygen gas, corroborating the discovery of the element by German-Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele.
- 1892 – Belgian carillonneur Jef Denyn hosted the world's first carillon concert at St. Rumbold's Cathedral in Mechelen.
- 1911 – Harriet Quimby became the first woman to earn an Aero Club of America aviator certificate.
- Elizabeth Randles (b. 1800)
- Maria Mitchell (b. 1818)
- Lydia Litvyak (d. 1943)
- Abdalqadir as-Sufi (d. 2021)
Today's featured picture
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An ambigram is a calligraphic or typographic design with multiple interpretations as written words. Alternative meanings are often yielded when the design is transformed or the observer moves, but they can also result from a shift in mental perspective. This animation shows a half-turn ambigram of the word ambigram. The word is written calligraphically with 180-degree rotational symmetry, such that it reads identically when viewed upside down. Calligraphy and animation credit: Basile Morin
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