Wikipedia:Main Page history/2012 March 25

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1920's-era photograph of Charlie Macartney

Charlie Macartney (1886–1958) was an Australian cricketer who played in 35 Tests between 1907 and 1926. He was known as The Governor-General in reference to his authoritative batting style and his flamboyant strokeplay, which drew comparisons with his close friend and role model Victor Trumper. Making his Test debut in 1907, his most noteworthy Test contribution in his early career was a match-winning ten wicket haul at Headingley in 1909. It was around this time that Macartney befriended Trumper and began to transform himself into an audacious attacking batsman. The First World War stopped all first-class cricket and Macartney enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force. Upon the resumption of cricket, Macartney stamped himself as one of the leading batsmen in the world with his performances during the 1921 Ashes tour. Macartney produced an Australian record score in England of 345 against Nottinghamshire, which led to him being named one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1922. After missing the 1924–25 series due to mental illness or a recurrence of war injuries, Macartney departed international cricket on the 1926 tour of England. Macartney was posthumously inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame in 2007. (more...)

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A knotwork, a design often associated with Celtic traditions. The outer design is a a circle, surrounding what appears to be a triangle surrounded by a Celtic knot at first glance. Closer inspection of the triangle reveals that it is in fact an organic part of the inner knot, which seems to have two continuous segments linked by knots. At first glance, the knotwork appears to be symmetric; closer inspection reveals that the right-hand knots seem to be the reverse of the left-hand knots and there are are small differences among the "twin nots"; the right and left hands of the design have variations, much as our right and left hands have subtle distinctions. The design is not symmetric with respect to 120 degree rotations: The center of the pseudo-triangle is above the center of the surrounding circle, but visual balance is maintained by extra knots below the lower pseudo–line-segment. The background is crimson.

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  • In the news

    Amadou Toumani Touré

  • The Mahon Tribunal into political corruption in Ireland concludes with findings against high-profile politicians, including two former Taoisigh.
  • Malian President Amadou Toumani Touré (pictured) is ousted in a coup d'état.
  • Mohammed Merah, the suspect in a series of fatal shootings in southern France, dies during a police siege.
  • Hungarian mathematician Endre Szemerédi wins the Abel Prize for his contributions to discrete mathematics and theoretical computer science.
  • George Tupou V, the King of Tonga, dies in Hong Kong at the age of 63.
  • Lindsey Vonn and Marcel Hirscher win the Alpine Skiing World Cup.
  • On this day...

    March 25: Passion Sunday (Christianity, 2012); Independence Day in Greece (1821)

    Ward Cunningham

  • 1655 – Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens discovered Titan, the largest natural satellite of the planet Saturn.
  • 1807 – The Slave Trade Act became law, abolishing the slave trade in the British Empire.
  • 1948Meteorologists at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City issued the world's first tornado forecast after noticing conditions similar to another tornado that had struck five days earlier.
  • 1957 – West Germany, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg signed the Treaty of Rome, establishing the European Economic Community.
  • 1975 – King Faisal of Saudi Arabia was shot and killed by his nephew Faisal bin Musa'id.
  • 1995 – American computer programmer Ward Cunningham (pictured) established the first wiki site, the WikiWikiWeb.
  • More anniversaries: March 24 March 25 March 26

    It is now March 25, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page

    Today's featured picture

    Ford Focus RS WRC

    Jari-Matti Latvala, winner of the 2010 Rally Finland, drives his Ford Focus RS WRC 09 during shakedown in Muurame. The model is built for the Ford World Rally Team by Ford and M-Sport, and is based on the Ford Focus Climate 2-litre production hatchback. It was in competition from 1999 to 2010, winning 44 world rallies and two manufacturers' world titles.

    Photo: Kallerna

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