Wikipedia:Main Page history/2012 January 19

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Today's featured article
Nick Drake (1948–1974) was an English singer-songwriter and musician, best known for his sombre guitar-based songs. He failed to find a wide audience during his lifetime, but now ranks among the most influential English singer-songwriters of the last 50 years. Drake released his debut album, Five Leaves Left, in 1969. None of his first three albums sold more than 5,000 copies on their initial release. Drake suffered from depression and insomnia throughout his life, and these topics were often reflected in his lyrics. On completion of his third album, 1972's Pink Moon, he withdrew from both live performance and recording, retreating to his parents' home in rural Warwickshire. He died from an overdose of amitriptyline in 1974 (grave pictured). Drake was credited as an influence by numerous artists during the 1980s, including The Dream Academy, who in 1985 reached the UK and US charts with "Life in a Northern Town", a song written for and dedicated to him. By the early 1990s, Drake represented a certain type of "doomed romantic" musician in the UK music press. In 2000, Volkswagen featured the title track from Pink Moon in a television advertisement, and within a month Drake had sold more records than he had in the previous 30 years. (more...) Recently featured: Mauna Kea – Press Gang – Diffuse panbronchiolitis Archive – By email – More featured articles...
Did you know...
From Wikipedia's newest content: ... that J.B.A. Acland (pictured) and his friend George Tripp were the first settlers in Canterbury to establish sheep farms in the high country? ... that although banned in 1943, the Baklahorani carnival, in Istanbul, revived after nearly 70 years? ... that one critic thought that The Artist's dog actor Uggie outperformed J. Edgar's Leonardo DiCaprio? ... that the Once Upon a Time episode "Desperate Souls" features actor Brad Dourif as a "beggar who befriends evil Rumpelstiltskin"? ... that Stuart Robinson School was a settlement school in the Kentucky mountains that was operated as a Presbyterian mission from 1913 until the 1950s? ... that the Antarctic sea urchin eats microscopic algae and small invertebrates, and feasts on seal faeces when available? Archive – Start a new article – Nominate an article

In the news
The English Wikipedia, along with many other websites, takes part in a 24-hour shutdown in protest against SOPA and PIPA. In the Republic of China (Taiwan), Ma Ying-jeou (pictured) is re-elected as president and the Kuomintang retains its majority in the Legislative Yuan. The cruise ship Costa Concordia runs aground and capsizes off the coast of Tuscany, with at least eleven fatalities. Anote Tong is re-elected President of Kiribati. Rauf Denktaş, the founder and the first president of Northern Cyprus, dies at the age of 87. In Burma, government officials and the Karen National Union agree on a ceasefire to end an internal conflict that began in 1948. Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events...
On this day...
January 19 1607 – San Agustin Church (pictured) in Manila, the oldest church in the Philippines, was completed. 1764 – English radical and politician John Wilkes was expelled from the British Parliament and declared an outlaw for seditious libel. 1917 – Approximately 50 tons of TNT exploded at a munitions factory in Silvertown in West Ham, present-day Greater London, killing over 70 people and injuring over 400 others. 1983 – The Nazi SS officer Klaus Barbie was arrested in Bolivia, 32 years after having fled to Argentina with the help of the US Army US Army Counterintelligence Corps. 2006 – In the deadliest aviation accident in Slovak history, an Antonov An-24 aircraft operated by the Slovak Air Force crashed in northern Hungary, killing 42 of the 43 people on board. More anniversaries: January 18 – January 19 – January 20 Archive – By email – List of historical anniversaries It is now January 19, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page

Today's featured picture

The Emperor shrimp (Periclimenes imperator) is a species of shrimp with a wide distribution across the Indo-Pacific. It lives commensally on a number of hosts, including sea cucumbers (Bohadschia argus shown here).

Photo: Nick Hobgood

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