Wikipedia:Main Page history/2019 June 14

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From today's featured article

David Nutter

"Ice" is the eighth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. Premiering on the Fox network on November 5, 1993, "Ice" was directed by David Nutter (pictured) and written by Glen Morgan and James Wong. The debut was watched by 10 million viewers in 6.2 million households and received largely positive reviews from critics, who praised its tense atmosphere. In the episode, FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) investigate the deaths of an isolated Alaskan research team. The agents and their team discover the existence of extraterrestrial parasitic organisms which drive their hosts into impulsive fits of rage. The episode was inspired by an article in Science News about an excavation in Greenland, and series creator Chris Carter also cited John W. Campbell's 1938 novella Who Goes There? as an influence. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

Air Lock Diving-Bell Plant

... that the Air Lock Diving-Bell Plant (pictured), made in Wivenhoe, worked in the Gibraltar harbour for more than 60 years?
... that Rodney Robinson, 2019 National Teacher of the Year, makes sure his former students at the Richmond Juvenile Detention Center register to vote?
... that the symptoms of CPVT, a cause of sudden death in children, are often mistaken for simple faints?
... that LGBT rights activist Melissa Ede wanted to become the first transgender woman on Mars?
... that the Trout Creek Hill volcanic eruption approximately 340,000 years ago, during the Pleistocene, produced a lava flow that extended 20 km (12 mi), temporarily damming the Columbia River?
... that the book The Expanding Circle bridged sociobiology and ethics, discussing how humans have used reason to expand their moral considerations from family and tribe to the entire of society?
... that Liang Shoupan is known as the "father of China's cruise missile program"?
... that among the wildlife of Liberia, the rarest mammal may be the Liberian mongoose?
... that during the 1923–24 season, Cardiff City F.C. finished as runners-up in the closest title race in First Division history?
... that Francis Rose's plantations in Jamaica included Old Works, New Works, and The Decoy?

In the news

Alex Pietrangelo

Two oil tankers are attacked in the Gulf of Oman, amidst heightened tensions between Iran and the United States.
In ice hockey, the St. Louis Blues (captain Alex Pietrangelo pictured) defeat the Boston Bruins to win the Stanley Cup Finals.
Hundreds of thousands of people in Hong Kong protest against proposed legislation regarding extradition.
In the Danish general election, centre-left and left-wing parties win a majority, with Mette Frederiksen expected to become prime minister.
In association football, the UEFA Champions League concludes with Liverpool defeating Tottenham Hotspur in the final.

On this day

June 14: Flag Day in the United States; Liberation Day in the Falkland Islands (1982)

Title page of the Index Librorum Prohibitorum

1285 – Forces led by Prince Trần Quang Khải of Vietnam's Trần dynasty destroyed most of the invading Mongol naval fleet in a battle at Chuong Duong.
1800 – War of the Second Coalition: In the Battle of Marengo, Napoleonic forces secured victory over the Habsburgs when defeat had appeared inevitable until the arrival of French troops led by Louis Desaix.
1900 – The second of the German Naval Laws was passed, doubling the size of the Imperial German Navy.
1949 – Albert II became the first monkey in space, reaching an altitude of 134 km (83 mi) in a V-2 rocket.
1966 – The Vatican formally abolished its 427-year-old list of prohibited books (title page pictured).

Harriet Beecher Stowe (b. 1811) · W. W. E. Ross (b. 1894) · Qiao Shi (d. 2015)

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From today's featured list

Amit Shah in 2015

The President of the Bharatiya Janata Party is the highest authority within the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), one of two major parties in the Indian political system, along with the Indian National Congress. The president fills a number of roles, including chairing meetings of the party's national executive and appointing the presidents of party subsidiaries, such as its youth wing and farmer's wing. As of 2018,^[update] it is the country's largest political party in terms of representation in the national parliament and state assemblies. Any candidate for the BJP presidency needs to have been a member of the party for at least 15 years. After the party's foundation in 1980, Atal Bihari Vajpayee became its first president. He later became the Prime Minister of India, the only BJP president to serve in that position to date. In 1986, Lal Krishna Advani was sworn in as the party president and has been the longest serving president over three different periods. A total of ten people have served as the president of the BJP, including Rajnath Singh, who has served two terms. Amit Shah (pictured) became the party president on 9 July 2014 and is the incumbent. (Full list...)

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Today's featured picture

Stellagama stellio, also known as the starred agama or the roughtail rock agama, is a species of agamid lizard, the only member of the monotypic genus Stellagama. The species can be found in Greece, western Asia and northern Egypt; it has also been introduced to Malta. It can reach a total length of 35 centimetres (14 in) or slightly longer. Like many agamids, the species can change its colour to express its mood. It basks on stone walls, rocks and trees. The species is usually found in rocky habitats and is quite shy, being very ready to dive into cracks to hide from potential predators.

This picture, taken in 2018, shows an S. s. brachydactyla in the Dana Biosphere Reserve in Jordan.

Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp

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