Wikipedia:Main Page history/2012 February 23

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Today's featured article
W. E. B. Du Bois (1868–1963) was an American civil rights activist, author, and editor. After graduating from Harvard, where he was the first African American to earn a doctorate, he became a professor of history, sociology, and economics at Atlanta University. Du Bois, one of the co-founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, rose to national prominence as the leader of the Niagara Movement, a group of African-American activists who wanted equal rights for blacks. Racism was the main target of Du Bois's polemics, and he strongly protested against lynching, Jim Crow laws, and discrimination in education and employment. He was a proponent of Pan-Africanism and helped organize efforts to free African colonies from European powers. Du Bois wrote several seminal essays and treatises, and published many influential pieces in his role as editor of the NAACP's journal The Crisis. He was an ardent peace activist and advocated nuclear disarmament. The United States' Civil Rights Act, embodying many of the reforms for which Du Bois had campaigned his entire life, was enacted a year after his death. (more...) Recently featured: Nyon Conference – St Nicholas – Texas Tech University Archive – By email – More featured articles...
Did you know...
From Wikipedia's newest content: ... that William Hiseland (pictured), the last survivor of the Battle of Edgehill, also fought at Malplaquet sixty-seven years later? ... that the Beirut-based actor and visual artist Rabih Mroué had to premiere a piece in Tokyo because it was banned at home? ... that New Jersey Assemblyman Gregory P. McGuckin is the son of the first directly elected mayor of Brick Township, New Jersey? ... that Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now, Maya Angelou's first book of essays, has been called one of her "wisdom books"? ... that French paleontologist Charles Lamberton scathingly rebutted a theory claiming that some extinct, giant lemurs were aquatic and that one of them was an "arboreal-aquatic acrobat"? ... that the tragic end of Raj Kapoor's film Aah (1953) was changed to a happy one after the film's release? Archive – Start a new article – Nominate an article

In the news
Christian Wulff A train crash in Buenos Aires kills at least 50 people and injures more than 675 others. Scientists reportedly regenerate specimens of Silene stenophylla from placental tissue frozen approximately 32,000 years ago. 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. Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events...
On this day...
February 23: National Day in Brunei (1984); Defender of the Fatherland Day in Russia and several other former Soviet republics 1739 – The identity of English highwayman Dick Turpin, who had been living under an alias in York, was uncovered by his former schoolteacher, who recognised his handwriting, leading to Turpin's arrest. 1944 – In response to an insurgency in Chechnya, the Soviet Union began the forced deportation of native Chechen and Ingush populations of North Caucasus to Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. 1945 – American photographer Joe Rosenthal took the Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima during the Battle of Iwo Jima, an image that was later reproduced as the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial (pictured). 1947 – The International Organization for Standardization, responsible for worldwide industrial and commercial standards, was founded. 1987 – Light from the supernova SN 1987A in the Large Magellanic Cloud reached the Earth. More anniversaries: February 22 – February 23 – February 24 Archive – By email – List of historical anniversaries It is now February 23, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page

Today's featured picture

A fossil of Thrissops formosus, a member of the extinct fish genus Thrissops that lived during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. Thrissops were fast predatory fish, about 24 inches (60 cm) long, that fed on other bony fish. They had a streamlined body with a deeply cleft tail and only very small pelvic fins.

Photo: H. Zell

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