Wikipedia:Main Page history/2011 July 16

the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

Today's featured article
Mantra-Rock Dance was a musical countercultural event held on January 29, 1967, at the Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco. It was organized by followers of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness as an opportunity for its founder, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, to address a wider public, and as a promotional and fundraising effort for their first center on the West Coast of the United States. The Mantra-Rock Dance featured American rock groups the Grateful Dead, Big Brother and the Holding Company (for whom Janis Joplin was the lead singer) and Moby Grape; these bands agreed to appear with Prabhupada and to perform for free. The participation of countercultural leaders considerably boosted the event's popularity; among them were the poet Allen Ginsberg, who led the singing of the Hare Krishna mantra on stage along with Prabhupada, and LSD promoters Timothy Leary and Stanley Augustus Owsley III. The Mantra-Rock Dance concert was later called "the ultimate high" and "the major spiritual event of the San Francisco hippy era". It led to favorable media exposures for Prabhupada and his followers, and brought the Hare Krishna movement to the wider attention of the American public. (more...) Recently featured: Neil Hamilton Fairley – Trade dollar – Somerset Archive – By email – More featured articles...
Did you know...
From Wikipedia's newest content: ... that bicycle racing champion William Van Wagoner (pictured) founded a namesake automobile manufacturing company? ... that Pierrepont School, Frensham, occupied a listed English country house designed by Richard Norman Shaw? ... that in its natural habitat, the Sand Live Oak often grows on white sand? ... that Georg Ræder played a central role in the planning and construction of the first public railway line in Norway? ... that Tuttuki Bako players insert their finger 60 mm (2.4 in) into an electronic device to render images of that finger on an LCD screen? ... that Air Vice-Marshal Frank Inglis was head of RAF Intelligence in 1942 and persuaded President Roosevelt to direct the main American war effort against Germany rather than Japan? ... that American painter Robert Beauchamp originally attended Cranbrook Academy of Art to make money by learning pottery ... and for the love of a girl? Archive – Start a new article – Nominate an article

In the news
Rebekah Brooks and Les Hinton, two executives of News Corporation, resign amid political controversy surrounding the media conglomerate. A triple bombing in Mumbai kills at least 19 people and injures 130 others. Ahmed Wali Karzai (pictured), Afghan politician and half-brother of President Hamid Karzai, is assassinated. Twelve people, including the head of the Cyprus Navy, are killed in an explosion at a naval base, the worst peacetime military accident in the history of Cyprus. The sinking of cruise ship Bulgaria on the Volga River in Tatarstan, Russia, leaves 129 people dead or missing. The World Netball Championships conclude with Australia defeating New Zealand in the final. Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events...
On this day...
July 16 622 – The epoch of the Islamic calendar occurred, marking the year that Muhammad began his Hijra from Mecca to Medina. 1782 – Mozart's opera Die Entführung aus dem Serail made its premiere, after which Emperor Joseph II (pictured) anecdotally made the complaint that it had "too many notes". 1931 – Emperor of Ethiopia Haile Selassie signed the nation's first constitution, the first time in history that an absolute ruler voluntarily shared sovereignty with his subjects. 1950 – Korean War: A Korean People's Army unit massacred twenty-one U.S. Army prisoners of war. 1965 – South Vietnamese Colonel Pham Ngoc Thao—an undetected communist spy—was hunted down and killed after being sentenced to death in absentia for a February 1965 coup attempt against Nguyen Khanh. More anniversaries: July 15 – July 16 – July 17 Archive – By email – List of historical anniversaries It is now July 16, 2011 (UTC) – Refresh this page

Today's featured picture

Sossusvlei is a salt and clay pan surrounded by high red dunes, located in the southern part of the Namib Desert, in the Namib-Naukluft National Park of Namibia. Its name derives from its status as an endorheic drainage basin (i.e., without outflows) for the ephemeral Tsauchab river: "Vlei" is the Afrikaans word for "marsh", while "sossus" is Nama for "no return" or "dead end".

Photo: Ikiwaner

Recently featured: Satellite photo of North America – Louis-Marie Autissier – Vanity Fair cover, June 1914

Archive – More featured pictures...

Other areas of Wikipedia

Community portal – Bulletin board, projects, resources and activities covering a wide range of Wikipedia areas.
Help desk – Ask questions about using Wikipedia.
Local embassy – For Wikipedia-related communication in languages other than English.
Reference desk – Serving as virtual librarians, Wikipedia volunteers tackle your questions on a wide range of subjects.
Site news – Announcements, updates, articles and press releases on Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Foundation.
Village pump – For discussions about Wikipedia itself, including areas for technical issues and policies.