Wikipedia:Main Page history/2014 April 19

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From today's featured article

Banksia grossa is a species of shrub in the plant family Proteaceae endemic to Southwest Australia. It is one of fourteen species of banksia of the series Abietinae, all of which bear predominantly round or oval inflorescences. Collected in 1965, it was described in 1981 by Alex George. Its thick leaves and large seeds distinguish it from other members of the Abietinae, and are the basis of its species name. Found in sand or sand over laterite among heath between Eneabba and Badgingarra in Western Australia, it grows as a many-stemmed shrub to 1 m (3 ft) high with narrow leaves and oval brownish flower spikes up to 10 cm (4 in) high, composed of hundreds of individual flowers. Flowering occurs throughout the cooler months of March to September. Old flower spikes develop woody follicles which bear the seeds. The plant takes 5 to 7 years to reach maturity and begin flowering. After bushfire, Banksia grossa regenerates from its woody lignotuber; bushfires also stimulate the release of seeds, which germinate after disturbance. Visitors to (and likely pollinators of) inflorescences include insects and a nocturnal mammal, the white-tailed dunnart. (Full article...)

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From Wikipedia's new and recently improved content:

... that impala (pictured) are known for their unique leaping ability, reaching heights up to 3 metres (9.8 ft)?
... that soprano Kristīne Opolais made two Met Opera debuts, as Puccini's Cio-Cio-San and Mimi, within a day?
... that Maunsel House has been the family seat of the Slade baronets since 1772?
... that the episode "The 37's" was the first time in a Star Trek series that a Federation starship had landed on a planet's surface?
... that three men were convicted for using child soldiers in Sierra Leone during the civil war?
... that pointy ears are a common characteristic of numerous races in the fantasy genre?

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In the news

Abdelaziz Bouteflika is re-elected as President of Algeria.
Adult human DNA is cloned for the first time within an unfertilized egg.
Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez (pictured), recipient of the 1982 Nobel Prize in Literature, dies at the age of 87.
NASA announces the discovery of Kepler-186f, the first Earth-sized exoplanet orbiting in its star's habitable zone.
Ukraine launches a military campaign against pro-Russian activists in East Ukraine.
A ferry carrying more than 450 people capsizes near Jindo Island off South Korea, leaving at least 29 dead and 273 missing.

Recent deaths: Owen Woodhouse – Brian Harradine

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On this day...

April 19: Feast of Saint Alphege (Western Christianity); Holy Saturday (Christianity, 2014)

65 – The freedman Milichus betrayed Gaius Calpurnius Piso's plot to kill the Emperor Nero and all the conspirators were arrested.
1809 – War of the Fifth Coalition: The French won a hard-fought victory over Austria in Lower Bavaria when their opponents withdrew from the field of battle that evening.
1960 – Students in South Korea held a nationwide pro-democracy protest (pictured) against President Syngman Rhee, eventually forcing him to resign.
1984 – Scottish-born composer Peter Dodds McCormick's "Advance Australia Fair", a patriotic song that was first performed in 1878, officially replaced "God Save the Queen" as Australia's national anthem.
1993 – The 51-day siege of the Mount Carmel Center, the home of the Branch Davidian religious sect outside Waco, Texas, ended when a fire broke out, killing over 70 people.

More anniversaries: April 18 – April 19 – April 20

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Today's featured picture

The Collignon projection is an equal-area pseudocylindrical map projection first known to be published by Édouard Collignon in 1865 and subsequently cited by A. Tissot in 1881. This image is a derivative of NASA's Blue Marble summer month composite, with oceans lightened to enhance legibility and contrast.

Map: Strebe, using Geocart

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