Wikipedia:Main Page history/2014 August 25

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Francis Marrash

Francis Marrash (1836–1873) was a Syrian writer and poet of the Nahda movement—the Arabic renaissance—and a physician. Most of his works revolve around science, history and religion, analysed under an epistemological light. He travelled through the Middle East and France in his youth, and after some medical training and a year of practice in his native Aleppo, during which he wrote several works, he enrolled in a medical school in Paris. Declining health and growing blindness forced his return to Aleppo, where he produced more literary works until his early death. Middle Eastern historian Matti Moosa considered Marrash to be the first truly cosmopolitan Arab intellectual and writer of modern times. Marrash adhered to the principles of the French Revolution and defended them in his own works, implicitly criticising Ottoman rule in the Middle East. He was also influential in introducing French romanticism in the Arab world, especially through his use of poetic prose and prose poetry, of which his writings were the first examples in modern Arabic literature. He has had a lasting influence on contemporary Arab thought and on the Mahjari poets. (Full article...)

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View of Canada's Wonderland from an airplane in 2011

There are currently 65 attractions in Canada's Wonderland, a 330-acre (130 ha) theme park complex located in Vaughan, Ontario, Canada. When Canada's Wonderland first opened in 1981, there were 26 attractions. Since then, at least one attraction has been added every year except 2009 and 2013. Canada's Wonderland's newest attraction is Wonder Mountain's Guardian, a 4D interactive dark ride located inside Wonder Mountain, which was added for the 2014 season. For safety, Canada's Wonderland uses a ride rating system that classifies the attractions based on the intensity of the ride. The ratings vary from 1, for rides that are calm and gentle, to 5, for rides that have high speeds, aggressive forces, and rapid elevation changes. A separate set of ride ratings criteria is used for attractions inside Splash Works, a water park that was constructed in the area surrounding the Mighty Canadian Minebuster in 1992. Four years later, Canada's Wonderland expanded the water park by adding a wave pool, an interactive children's playground, and an enclosed water slide. (Full list...)

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European bee-eaters

The European bee-eater (Merops apiaster) is a near passerine bird in the bee-eater family Meropidae which breeds in southern Europe and in parts of north Africa and western Asia and winters in tropical Africa, India and Sri Lanka. The species predominantly feeds on insects, especially bees, wasps and hornets, which are caught in the air by sorties from an open perch.

Photo: Pierre Dalous

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