Wikipedia:Main Page history/2020 December 14

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From today's featured article

James Madison

The first election for Virginia's 5th congressional district took place on February 2, 1789. In a race that turned on the candidates' positions on the need for a Bill of Rights, James Madison (depicted) defeated James Monroe for a place in the First Congress. It is the only congressional election in U.S. history in which two future presidents opposed each other. The race came about when former governor Patrick Henry and other Anti-Federalists sought to defeat Madison. They put forward Monroe, a young but experienced politician, who campaigned vigorously. Despite bitterly cold weather, the two candidates debated outdoors; traveling after one such meeting, Madison suffered frostbite on his face. Madison won the election comfortably, to the applause of his supporters such as President-elect George Washington. The race did not affect Madison's friendship with Monroe, who would serve as Madison's Secretary of State and succeed him as president in 1817. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Advertisement for The Green Pastures

... that the 1957 The Green Pastures (advertisement pictured) was critiqued in the white Southern press for having "bowed to the inverted prejudice which insists that Negroes shall never be portrayed as Negroes"?
... that Katie Levick gave up the chance to play cricket for England in order to pursue a full-time job?
... that the gall wasp Synergus japonicus is considered to be a kleptoparasite?
... that This American Life producer and Boston native Sean Cole spoke with an affected British accent from age 14 to 16?
... that The Alcestiad, an opera based on a Greek myth and written collaboratively by Thornton Wilder and composer Louise Talma, was premiered by the Oper Frankfurt in German?
... that Arizona Falls is a functioning small hydroelectric plant designed as public art?
... that the Banu Muhriz emirs were patrons of the Alawites of Syria?
... that the Cousteau Society visited the wreck of the yacht Gunilda in Lake Superior in 1980, calling it "the most beautiful shipwreck in the world"?

In the news

COVID-19 pandemic: Disease; Virus; By location; Impact; Vaccines; Portal

Nana Akufo-Addo

Nana Akufo-Addo (pictured) is re-elected for a second term as President of Ghana.
In motorsport, Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia win the World Rally Championship, while Hyundai win the manufacturers' title.
Hayabusa2 successfully returns samples collected from asteroid 162173 Ryugu to Earth.
Zdravko Krivokapić takes office as Prime Minister of Montenegro, becoming the first independent to hold the post.

On this day

December 14: Martyred Intellectuals Day in Bangladesh (1971); Monkey Day

Haruna

1650 – English domestic servant Anne Greene survived being hanged for infanticide.
1836 – The Toledo War, a mostly bloodless territorial dispute between Ohio and the Michigan Territory, was unofficially ended with a resolution passed by the controversial "Frostbitten Convention".
1913 – Haruna (pictured), the fourth and last Japanese battleship of the Kongō class, was launched, going on to serve in both world wars.
1960 – Australian cricketer Ian Meckiff was run out on the last day of the first Test match between Australia and the West Indies, resulting in the first tied Test in cricket history.

John III of the Sedre (d. 648)
Giovanni Battista Cipriani (d. 1785)
Michael Owen (b. 1979)

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From today's featured list

Tongass National Forest

The United States has 154 protected areas known as national forests, covering 188,336,179 acres (762,169 km²; 294,275 sq mi). National forests are managed by the Forest Service, an agency of the Department of Agriculture. The first national forest was established as the Yellowstone Park Timber and Land Reserve on March 30, 1891, then in the Department of the Interior. In 1897, the Organic Act provided purposes for which forest reserves could be established, including to protect the forest, secure water supplies, and supply timber. By 1907, President Theodore Roosevelt had more than doubled the forest-reserve acreage, and Congress responded by limiting the president's ability to proclaim new reserves. The National Forest System underwent a major reorganization in 1908, and in 1911 Congress authorized new additions to the system under the authority of the Weeks Act. There is at least one national forest in all but ten states. Alaska has the most land in national forests, with 21.9 million acres (8.9 million ha), including Tongass National Forest (pictured), the largest by area in the country. (Full list...)

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Today's featured picture

Charles IV of Spain and His Family is a portrait of the royal family of Spain painted by Francisco Goya in 1800 and 1801. King Charles IV, his wife Maria Luisa of Parma, and his children and relatives are dressed in the height of contemporary fashion, lavishly adorned with jewelry and the sashes of the order of Charles III. The artist does not attempt to flatter the family; instead the group portrait is unflinchingly realist, both in detail and tone. The artist, seated at his easel, is visible in the background. The painting is in the collection of the Museo del Prado in Madrid.

Painting credit: Francisco Goya

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