Wikipedia:Main Page history/2011 July 20

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Today's featured article
The painted turtle is the only species of Chrysemys, a genus of pond turtles. It lives in slow-moving freshwaters, from southern Canada to the Louisiana Gulf Coast and northern Mexico, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Four U.S. states name the painted turtle as their official reptile. Fossils show that the painted turtle existed 15 million years ago, but four regionally based subspecies (the eastern, midland, southern, and western) evolved during the last ice age. The turtle's skin is olive to black with distinctive red, orange, or yellow stripes. Reliant on warmth from its surroundings, the painted turtle can frequently be seen basking on logs. Crayfish and dragonflies are among the turtle's preferred prey. Many predators eat the turtle eggs or hatchlings, but the adult's shell protects it from most enemies except for raccoons, alligators and humans. Turtles in the wild can live for more than 55 years. (more...) Recently featured: 1949 Ambato earthquake – James Boyd – Hurricane Danny Archive – By email – More featured articles...
Did you know...
From Wikipedia's newest content: ... that the sea anemone Epiactis prolifera (pictured), starts life as a female and later becomes a hermaphrodite? ... that Russian broadside ironclad *Ne Tron Menia* was named after the biblical verse John 20:17? ... that "Dad" Moulton, a participant in Sherman's March to the Sea, was the U.S. sprint champion in the 1870s, and trained the "world's fastest human" in the 1880s? ... that the steepest roller coaster in the world, with a drop angle of 121°, is Takabisha at the Fuji-Q Highland amusement park in Japan? ... that the 19th-century Shrigley Hall in Cheshire, England, originally a country house, was later a Salesian school with a chapel added in 1936, and now is a hotel and country club? ... that Amanda Peet jokingly described her character in the upcoming television comedy series Bent as "a repressed woman who needs to get laid"? ... that the severed head of Julia Martha Thomas, murdered, boiled and dismembered by her maid in 1879, was found next door to Sir David Attenborough's house in 2010? Archive – Start a new article – Nominate an article

In the news
Darren Clarke (pictured) of Northern Ireland wins The Open Championship at Royal St George's Golf Club. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, the last in the Harry Potter film series, debuts with a record-breaking opening weekend. The FIFA Women's World Cup concludes with Japan defeating the United States to become the first Asian team to win the tournament. Dawn, a robotic spacecraft, enters orbit around the asteroid 4 Vesta, four years after being launched. Arab Spring – Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events...
On this day...
July 20: Friends' Day in Argentina and other Latin American countries; Independence Day in Colombia (1810) 1807 – French brothers Claude and Nicéphore Niépce received a patent for their Pyréolophore, one of the world's first internal combustion engines. 1922 – The German protectorate of Togoland was divided into the League of Nations mandates of French Togoland and British Togoland. 1936 – The Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Turkish Straits was signed in Montreux, Switzerland, allowing Turkey to fortify the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus but guaranteeing free passage to ships of all nations in peacetime. 1940 – The Arroyo Seco Parkway, one of the first freeways built in the United States, opened to traffic, connecting Downtown Los Angeles with Pasadena, California. 1976 – The Viking 1 lander (replica pictured) became the first spacecraft to successfully land on Mars and perform its mission. More anniversaries: July 19 – July 20 – July 21 Archive – By email – List of historical anniversaries It is now July 20, 2011 (UTC) – Refresh this page

Today's featured picture

Wineglass Bay, in the Freycinet Peninsula of eastern Tasmania, with Mount Freycinet (right) and Mount Graham (left) visible behind. Nicolas Baudin named the peninsula after French explorer Louis de Freycinet, one of the first to produce a comprehensive map of the coastline of Australia.

Photo: JJ Harrison

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