Wikipedia:Main Page history/2012 February 22

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Today's featured article
The Nyon Conference was a diplomatic conference held in Nyon, Switzerland, in September 1937 to address attacks on international shipping in the Mediterranean Sea during the Spanish Civil War. The conference was convened in part because Italy had been carrying out unrestricted submarine warfare, although the final conference agreement did not accuse Italy directly; instead, the attacks were referred to as "piracy" by an unidentified body. Italy was not officially at war, nor did any submarine identify itself. The conference was designed to strengthen non-intervention in the Spanish Civil War. The United Kingdom and France led the conference, which was also attended by Bulgaria, Egypt, Greece, Romania, Turkey, the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. The first agreement, signed on 14 September, included plans to counterattack aggressive submarines. Naval patrols were established; the United Kingdom and France were to patrol most of the western Mediterranean and parts of the east, and the other signatories were to patrol their own waters. Italy was to be allowed to join the agreement and patrol the Tyrrhenian Sea if it wished. A second agreement followed three days later, applying similar provisions to surface ships. Italy and Nazi Germany did not attend, although the former did take up naval patrols in November. In marked contrast to the Non-Intervention Committee and the League of Nations, this conference did succeed in preventing attacks by submarines. (more...) Recently featured: St Nicholas – Texas Tech University – New York State Route 28 Archive – By email – More featured articles...
Did you know...
From Wikipedia's newest content: ... that Adolf Carl Noé challenged disbelief in the possibility of North American coal balls (example pictured) by presenting a wheelbarrow full of them? ... that in 1784, the racehorse Serjeant had to run half a mile more than the previous winner, Saltram, in order to win the Derby Stakes? ... that Theological College, a Roman Catholic seminary in Washington, D.C., educates seminarians from over 30 dioceses around the world? ... that according to The New York Times, the "overwhelmingly young" Local Coordination Committees of Syria are starting to "emerge as a pivotal force" in Syria? ... that Rhodesian soccer captain Bobby Chalmers, a white man, was assisted in his leadership of the mostly black national team by his proficiency in both Ndebele and Shona? ... that a cluster of streets in Jerusalem's Mekor Baruch neighborhood are named after the Maccabees, heroes of the Hanukkah story? Archive – Start a new article – Nominate an article

In the news
Christian Wulff Scientists report regenerating specimens of Silene stenophylla from 32,000 years old seed tissue. At least 44 people are killed during a prison riot in Apodaca, Mexico. Caesar Must Die wins the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival. President of Germany Christian Wulff (pictured) resigns following allegations of corruption during his tenure as Prime Minister of Lower Saxony. A fire at a prison in Comayagua, Honduras, kills more than 380 people. Indonesian airline Lion Air orders 230 aircraft from Boeing in a US$22.4 billion deal, a commercial aviation record. Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events...
On this day...
February 22: Ash Wednesday/Start of Lent in Western Christianity (2012); Tsagaan Sar in Mongolia (2012); Independence Day in Saint Lucia (1979); 500th anniversary of the death of Amerigo Vespucci 1632 – Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, in which he advocated Copernican heliocentrism, was delivered to his patron, Grand Duke Ferdinando. 1876 – The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland (Johns Hopkins Hospital pictured), named after philanthropist Johns Hopkins, opened. 1958 – Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser and Syrian President Shukri al-Quwatli signed a union pact to form the United Arab Republic. 1983 – The play Moose Murders opened and closed on the same night at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre, becoming the standard of "awfulness" against which all Broadway failures are judged. 2006 – At least six men staged Britain's biggest cash robbery ever at a Securitas depot in Tonbridge, Kent. More anniversaries: February 21 – February 22 – February 23 Archive – By email – List of historical anniversaries It is now February 22, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page

Today's featured picture

An editorial cartoon from the New York Herald depicting (left to right) Uncle Sam, George Washington, and Theodore Roosevelt on a pier welcoming the Great White Fleet back into port. Roosevelt had ordered the fleet, which consisted of 16 battleships and various escort ships, to circumnavigate the globe as a demonstration of growing American military power and blue-water navy capability.

Artist: William Allen Rogers; Restoration: Lise Broer

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