Wikipedia:Main Page history/2024 January 27
From today's featured article
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The Civil Service Rifles War Memorial is a First World War memorial located at Somerset House in London, England. Designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and unveiled by Edward, Prince of Wales, in 1924, the memorial commemorates the 1,240 members of the Prince of Wales' Own Civil Service Rifles regiment killed in the war. The memorial takes the form of a rectangular column surmounted by a sculpture of an urn and flanked by painted stone flags, a feature seen in other memorials by Lutyens. A scroll of the names of the fallen was placed inside the memorial. Those who served in the regiment were Territorial Force reservists, drawn largely from the British Civil Service with many staff based in Somerset House. The memorial was initially located in the quadrangle, which had been used by the regiment as a parade ground. It was later moved to the riverside terrace and rededicated in 2002. Upgraded to Grade II* listed-building status in 2015, it forms part of a national collection of war memorials by Lutyens. (Full article...)
Did you know ...
- ... that New York City's Roosevelt Island Tramway (pictured) was placed next to a bridge to prevent collisions with planes?
- ... that Stanislav Aseyev, the author of The Torture Camp on Paradise Street, was placed in the Izolyatsia torture camp for writing "Donetsk People's Republic" in quotation marks in a social media post?
- ... that Boquila trifoliolata is the only known plant capable of simultaneously mimicking multiple species?
- ... that Jorge Barón, a member of King County Council, was an assistant director on The Mask of Zorro?
- ... that the play-by-mail game Westworld was run from prison?
- ... that David Bowie narrated a version of Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf in 1978 as a gift for his seven-year-old son Duncan?
- ... that The Connor Brothers were believed to be two 20-something artists from Brooklyn, but are actually two British art dealers from London?
- ... that Augustine of Hippo's Harmony of the Gospels is technically not a Gospel harmony?
In the news
- Following damage to the helicopter's rotors, NASA ends the Ingenuity (pictured) mission on Mars after almost three years and seventy-two flights.
- The Ram Mandir, a temple to Rama, is consecrated at a disputed site in Ayodhya, India.
- Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's lunar module SLIM lands on the Moon.
- Protests break out in Bashkortostan, Russia, following the imprisonment of environmental activist Fail Alsynov.
- Iran launches missile strikes in Pakistan and aerial strikes in Iraq and Syria, and Pakistan responds with retaliatory airstrikes.
On this day
- 1799 – French Revolutionary Wars: In the Macau Incident, French and Spanish warships encountered a British Royal Navy escort squadron in the Wanshan Archipelago; subsequent events, including which side retreated, were disputed by the commanders present.
- 1919 – Yugoslavian troops shot at protesters advocating for the incorporation of Maribor into the Republic of German-Austria.
- 1996 – Mahamane Ousmane (pictured), the first democratically elected president of Niger, was deposed by Colonel Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara in a military coup d'état.
- 2011 – Astronomers documented H1504+65, a white dwarf in Ursa Minor with the hottest surface temperature known at the time, at 200,000 kelvins (360,000 °F).
- Titumir (b. 1782)
- Mohamed Al-Fayed (b. 1929)
- Victoria Ocampo (d. 1979)
- Paul Zorner (d. 2014)
Today's featured picture
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The Indian pied myna (Gracupica contra) is a species of starling found in the Indian subcontinent, with a principal distribution from the Gangetic plains extending south to the Krishna River. This range has increased in recent times, with populations established in Pakistan, western India and also Dubai. The spread has been aided by changes in irrigation and farming patterns and accidental escape of caged birds. The Indian pied myna is found mainly in lowland open areas with scattered trees near water, often near human habitation, but also inhabits areas up to around 700 metres (2,300 ft) in altitude. It has a black and white plumage with a yellowish bill and a reddish bill base. This pair of Indian pied mynas was photographed outside the city of Hapur in Uttar Pradesh, India. Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp
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