Wikipedia:Main Page history/2014 December 19

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Nguyễn Khánh

In a coup on December 19, 1964, South Vietnam's ruling military junta led by General Nguyễn Khánh (pictured) dissolved the High National Council (HNC) and arrested some of its members. Khánh needed to satisfy the wishes of some younger generals to stay in power, after they had saved him from an earlier coup attempt. They wanted to sideline older officers who had previously been in high leadership positions, hiding their motives with a plan to force all general officers with more than 25 years of service to retire. The HNC, an unelected advisory body created to give a veneer of civilian rule, recommended against this, and was then dissolved. This dismayed the United States, South Vietnam's main sponsor. The US ambassador, Maxwell D. Taylor, harshly berated the generals and threatened aid cuts. Khánh embarked on a media offensive, criticizing US policy and what he saw as infringement of Vietnamese sovereignty. He and the other generals began preparations to expel Taylor before changing their minds. Khánh's tactics rallied support for his fragile leadership, at least temporarily. The Americans did not carry through on Taylor's threats to cut off aid, even though the HNC was never restored. (Full article...)

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December 19: Liberation Day in Goa (1961)

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The word "KEY" written in exaggerated strokes, most of which are black, but two of which are red, those being the top line of the "E" and the line underscoring the word

Video games developed by Key, a Japanese visual novel video game development studio and brand under the publisher VisualArt's, are initially published by VisualArt's and released for Microsoft Windows personal computers; consumer ports are published by Interchannel and Prototype. Key released their debut title, Kanon, in 1999, followed by their second title, Air, in 2000. Both Kanon and Air were initially released as adult games, but Key released their third game, Clannad, in 2004 with a rating of approval for all ages. Seven more games have been released since then. Thirty-eight versions of Key's 10 released visual novels have been published by VisualArt's. Of the 38, 11 were released with an adult rating, and the remaining 27 had a rating for all ages. VisualArt's has ceased manufacturing 21 versions of Key's 10 games. Key released a box set called "Key 10th Memorial Box" in July 2009 containing six of Key's visual novels with a rating for all ages. (Full list...)

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Striated pardalote

The striated pardalote (Pardalotus striatus) is a passerine bird found in Australia. The most common pardalote species, it was first described by Johann Friedrich Gmelin in 1789. Although plumage varies, the nominate subspecies (as shown here) is identifiable by a yellow spot on the wing.

Photograph: JJ Harrison

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