Wikipedia:Main Page history/2012 December 25

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From today's featured article
William the Conqueror (c. 1028 – 1087) was the first Norman King of England. He had been Duke of Normandy since 1035, although his illegitimate status and youth caused him difficulties and he did not secure his hold over the duchy until about 1060. In the 1050s and early 1060s William became a contender for the English throne, then held by his childless relative Edward the Confessor. Among other potential claimants was the powerful English earl Harold Godwinson, whom Edward named as the next king on his deathbed in January 1066. William argued that Edward had previously promised him the throne, and that Harold had sworn to support William's claim. William invaded England in September 1066, defeating Harold at the Battle of Hastings, and was crowned on Christmas Day 1066. Several unsuccessful rebellions followed, but by 1075 William's hold on England was mostly secure. William's final years were marked by difficulties in his continental domains, troubles with his eldest son, and threatened invasions of England by the Danes. In 1086 he ordered the compilation of the Domesday Book, listing all the landholders in England and their holdings. He died in September 1087 on campaign in northern France, and was buried in Caen. (Full article...) Recently featured: Cosima Wagner – New York State Route 319 – Blackburn Olympic F.C. Archive – By email – More featured articles...
Did you know...
From Wikipedia's newest content: ... that Christmas jumpers (example pictured) have become popular in the UK during the 2010s? ... that Hans Pfitzner composed Das Christ-Elflein (The Little Elf of Christ, sometimes given as The Little Christmas Elf) first as incidental music, then in 1917 as an opera? ... that The Big Bang Theory episode "The Santa Simulation" features a Christmas-themed Dungeons & Dragons game? ... that on Christmas Day in 1997, a One Day International between India and Sri Lanka became the first international cricket match to be called off because of a dangerous pitch? ... that director Ken Russell created the Christmas themed A Kitten for Hitler after being challenged by Melvyn Bragg to make a film Russell himself would want to ban? ... that in New South Wales, the mountain beech can hybridise with the native holly and the crinkle bush? ... that Cliff Richard's 1990 UK Christmas number one song "Saviour's Day" was succeeded by Iron Maiden's "Bring Your Daughter... to the Slaughter"? Archive – Start a new article – Nominate an article

In the news
A gang rape in Delhi sparks widespread demonstrations across India. Park Geun-hye is elected President of South Korea, becoming the first woman to hold the position. Swiss bank UBS is fined US$1.5 billion for its role in the Libor scandal. Former Congolese militia leader Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui is acquitted by the International Criminal Court of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Shinzō Abe is elected Prime Minister of Japan as the Liberal Democratic Party gains an absolute majority in the House of Representatives. Twenty-eight people, including the gunman, are dead following a shooting at an elementary school in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Twenty-three people are injured in a knife attack at a primary school in the Chinese province of Henan. Syrian civil war – Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events...
On this day...
December 25: Christmas Day (Gregorian calendar); Quaid-e-Azam Day (Pakistan) 1643 – Captain William Mynors of the East India Company vessel, the Royal Mary, landed at an uninhabited island and named it Christmas Island. 1815 – The Handel and Haydn Society, the oldest continuously performing arts organization in the United States, premiered at King's Chapel in Boston. 1926 – Emperor Taishō died of a heart attack, and was succeeded by his son, Hirohito, who became the longest-reigning Emperor of Japan until his death in 1989. 1989 – Romanian Revolution: Dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu (pictured) and his wife Elena were condemned to death and executed under a wide range of charges. 2009 – Aboard Northwest Airlines Flight 253, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab attempted to detonate plastic explosives hidden in his underwear. More anniversaries: December 24 – December 25 – December 26 Archive – By email – List of historical anniversaries It is now December 25, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page

Today's featured picture

Cab Calloway (1907–94) was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was strongly associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City, the nation's premier jazz venue at the time, where he was a regular performer. He was a master of energetic scat singing, which he learned from Louis Armstrong, and led one of most popular African American big bands from the start of the 1930s through the late 1940s. His most famous song was "Minnie the Moocher", which was used in a Betty Boop cartoon of the same name. In addition to music, Calloway was an actor, appearing in both films and in musical theatre.

Photo: William P. Gottlieb

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