Wikipedia:Main Page history/2011 March 8

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Today's featured article
Maria: or, The Wrongs of Woman is the unfinished novelistic sequel by Mary Wollstonecraft (pictured) to her revolutionary political treatise A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. The Wrongs of Woman was published posthumously in 1798 by her husband, William Godwin, and is often considered her most radical feminist work. Wollstonecraft's philosophical and gothic novel revolves around the story of a woman imprisoned in an insane asylum by her husband. It focuses on the societal rather than the individual "wrongs of woman" and criticizes what Wollstonecraft viewed as the patriarchal institution of marriage in eighteenth-century Britain and the legal system that protected it. The novel pioneered the celebration of female sexuality and cross-class identification between women. Such themes, coupled with the publication of Godwin's scandalous Memoirs of Wollstonecraft's life, made the novel unpopular at the time it was published. Twentieth-century feminist critics embraced the work, integrating it into the history of the novel and feminist discourse. (more...) Recently featured: World Science Festival, 2008 – Guy Bradley – Lat Archive – By email – More featured articles...
Did you know...
From Wikipedia's newest articles: ... that Hikmat Abu Zayd (pictured) was the first female cabinet minister in Egypt? ... that Irish designer Orla Kiely has had her work featured on a range of Citroën DS3 cars, although she's better known for textiles? ... that Dutch television talk show host Sonja Barend retired in 2006 after forty years of making television? ... that Pauline Bebe was France's first female rabbi? ... that alleged German spy Despina Storch was described as "Turkish Delight", "Turkish beauty", and a "modern Cleopatra" in spy literature? ... that Ágnes Farkas was selected Hungarian Handballer of the Year in both 2001 and 2002? ... that even in her thirties, Scottish coloratura soprano Anne Sharp was able to pass as a teenager, performing the role of Emmie Spatchett in Albert Herring at the first Aldeburgh Festival? ... that Dutch writer, journalist, and feminist Wim Hora Adema co-founded the feminist monthly magazine Opzij in 1972, a magazine that's still in print? ... that in 1789 the Women's March on Versailles forced the King of France to accept the Declaration of the Rights of Man? Archive – Start a new article – Nominate an article

In the news
Former French President Jacques Chirac (pictured) stands trial for charges of corruption, the first former French head of state to stand trial since Philippe Pétain. Seiji Maehara resigns as Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan after a scandal over political donations. Protesters storm several State Security Intelligence buildings across Egypt, including the headquarters in Alexandria. The Samoan general election results in a majority for the Human Rights Protection Party, led by incumbent Prime Minister Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi. NASA's Glory climate research satellite is lost in the second consecutive failure of a Taurus-XL rocket. Middle East and North Africa protests Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events...
On this day...
March 8: Mardi Gras in Western Christianity (2011); International Women's Day; Mother's Day in various European countries 1010 – Persian poet Ferdowsi completed his masterpiece, the Shahnameh, the national epic of Iran and related societies. 1618 – German astronomer and mathematician Johannes Kepler discovered the third law of planetary motion. 1655 – The court of Northampton County, Colony of Virginia, made John Casor the first legally recognized slave in Britain's North American colonies. 1910 – French aviatrix Raymonde de Laroche (pictured) became the first woman to receive a pilot's license. 1916 – World War I: A British force unsuccessfully attempted to relieve the Ottoman siege of Kut (in present-day Iraq) in the Battle of Dujaila. 1966 – Nelson's Pillar, a large granite pillar with a statue of Lord Nelson on top in Dublin, Ireland, was destroyed by a bomb. More anniversaries: March 7 – March 8 – March 9 Archive – By email – List of historical anniversaries It is now March 8 2011 (UTC) – Refresh this page

Today's featured picture

"Under the Horse Chestnut Tree" (1898), a drypoint and aquatint print by Mary Cassatt, an American painter and printmaker who lived much of her adult life in France, where she first befriended Edgar Degas and later exhibited among the Impressionists. Cassatt often created images of the social and private lives of women, with particular emphasis on the intimate bonds between mothers and children, on which her reputation is largely based. In recognition of her contributions to the arts, France awarded her the Légion d'honneur in 1904, but she never had as much success in her homeland, having been overshadowed by her brother, railroad magnate Alexander Cassatt.

Restoration: Lise Broer

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