Wikipedia:Main Page history/2011 December 16

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Today's featured article
True at First Light is a book by American novelist Ernest Hemingway about his 1953–54 East African safari with his fourth wife Mary, released posthumously in his centennial year in 1999. The book received mostly negative or lukewarm reviews from the popular press and sparked a literary controversy regarding how, and whether, an author's work should be reworked and published after his death. Unlike critics of the popular press, Hemingway scholars generally consider True at First Light to be complex and a worthy addition in his canon of later fiction. In January 1954, Hemingway and Mary were in two successive plane crashes in the African bush in a two-day period. He was reported dead by the international press, arriving in Entebbe to face questions from reporters. The severity of his injuries was not completely diagnosed until months later when he returned to Europe. Hemingway spent much of the next two years in Havana, recuperating and writing the manuscript of what he called the Africa book, which remained unfinished at the time of his suicide in July 1961. In the 1970s, Mary donated his manuscripts to the John F. Kennedy Library, including the Africa book. The manuscript was released to Hemingway's son Patrick in the mid-1990s. Patrick edited the work to half its original length to strengthen the underlying storyline and emphasize the fictional aspects. The result is a blend of memoir and fiction. (more...) Recently featured: Andalusian horse – Amundsen's South Pole expedition – Cogan House Covered Bridge Archive – By email – More featured articles...
Did you know...
From Wikipedia's newest content: ... that the resilience of coral reefs may be improved to the point where they can resist coral bleaching (example pictured) if they are seeded with thermally-resistant zooxanthellae? ... that Lost in Paradise is considered Vietnam's first gay film? ... that the 1842 Cap-Haïtien earthquake badly damaged the Sans-Souci Palace built by Henri Christophe? ... that the 2013 United States federal budget may impose a 23% cut on the defense budget due to the Budget Control Act of 2011, according to Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta? ... that Canadian mystery writer Eric Wilson based the formula for his Tom and Liz Austen books on the preferences of his eighth-grade students? ... that the Experiment was a boat powered by horses running on a treadmill and propelled by a then-novel type of screw propeller? Archive – Start a new article – Nominate an article

In the news
Jacques Chirac Former French President Jacques Chirac (pictured) receives a two-year suspended sentence after being convicted of embezzlement. The United States formally declares an end to the Iraq War. At least five people are killed and more than one hundred are wounded in a murder–suicide attack in Liège, Belgium. The Constituent Assembly of Tunisia elects Moncef Marzouki as the President of Tunisia. The UN Climate Change Conference in Durban, South Africa, closes with an agreement to establish a new treaty to limit carbon emissions. Allegations of flaws in the Russian legislative elections trigger the country's largest protests since the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Iran files a formal complaint to the UN Security Council regarding a U.S. RQ-170 Sentinel aircraft seized within its territory. The National Basketball Association lockout ends with a collective bargaining agreement between players and owners. Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events...
On this day...
December 16: National Day in Bahrain; Independence Day in Kazakhstan (1991) 1707 – The last recorded eruption of Japan's Mount Fuji (pictured) released some 800 million m³ of volcanic ash. 1811 – The first two in a series of four severe earthquakes struck the Midwestern United States and made the Mississippi River appear to run backward. 1893 – Czech composer Antonín Dvořák's New World Symphony premiered at Carnegie Hall in New York City. 1944 – World War II: The Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany launched its final offensive in the western front, the Battle of the Bulge. 1986 – Dinmukhamed Konayev was dismissed from the post of First Secretary of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan, sparking riots throughout the country. More anniversaries: December 15 – December 16 – December 17 Archive – By email – List of historical anniversaries It is now December 16, 2011 (UTC) – Refresh this page

Today's featured picture

The shell of a sea snail of the species Cymatium lotorium. The genus Cymatium contains possibly as many as 100 species of predatory snails of all sizes. The larvae of some species have a long planktonic stage, giving them a worldwide distribution, as they can be carried great distances before settling to the sea floor.

Photo: George Chernilevsky

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