Wikipedia:Main Page history/2014 January 3

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From today's featured article

The false potto is a lorisoid primate of uncertain taxonomic status found in Africa. Anthropologist Jeffrey H. Schwartz named it in 1996 as the only species of the genus Pseudopotto on the basis of two skeletal specimens of uncertain provenance that had previously been identified as pottos. Schwartz thought the false potto could represent a separate family, but other researchers have argued that the supposed distinguishing features of the animal do not actually distinguish it from the potto; specifically, the false potto shares several features with West African pottos. The false potto generally resembles a small potto, but according to Schwartz it differs in having a longer tail, shorter spines on its neck and chest vertebrae, a smaller, less complex spine on the second neck vertebra, an entepicondylar foramen (an opening in the humerus, or upper arm bone), a lacrimal fossa (a depression in the skull) that is located inside the eye socket, a smaller upper third premolar and molar, and higher-crowned cheekteeth. However, many of these traits are variable among pottos; for example, one researcher found entepicondylar foramina in almost half of the specimens in his sample of pottos. (Full article...)

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From Wikipedia's new and recently improved content:

... that the Scottish island of Stroma was inhabited for thousands of years but was abandoned in 1962, with the last islanders leaving their houses (pictured) to fall into ruin?
... that Infante Francisco de Paula of Spain was found playing sexual games with two women while blindfolded?
... that crossover experiments are used to study the mechanisms of chemical reactions?
... that Anthony Carleton's son-in-law Hercules Underhill confirmed the sale of New Place to Shakespeare?
... that after Illinois Secretary of State Paul Powell had died in 1970, $750,000 in cash was found stashed in shoeboxes and various containers in his room at Springfield's St. Nicholas Hotel?
... that Kathy Kinney was originally intended to be a one-off guest star in the pilot episode of The Drew Carey Show, but was later promoted to series regular?
... that John Everard was imprisoned in the Tower of London and expelled from the King's Inns as a result of his conduct?

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In the news

Latvia becomes the 18th EU member state to adopt the euro.
More than 100 people are killed when anti-government forces attack key buildings in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
On its maiden flight, a Russian Soyuz-2-1v rocket launches Aist 1 and two radar calibration satellites.
Two suicide bombings kill more than 30 people in Volgograd, Russia (Volgograd-1 railway station pictured).
Amidst fears of civil war, the United Nations Security Council agrees to send more UNMISS soldiers to South Sudan.
Pioneering British computer scientist and code breaker Alan Turing, convicted in 1952 of gross indecency for homosexual activity, is granted a posthumous royal pardon.

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On this day...

January 3

1888 – The 36 in (91 cm) refracting telescope (pictured) at the Lick Observatory near San Jose, California, at the time the largest in the world, was used for the first time.
1911 – A 7.7 M_w earthquake destroyed the city of Almaty in Russian Turkestan.
1949 – The first Central Bank of the Philippines was formally inaugurated with Miguel Cuaderno, Sr. as the first governor.
1973 – American businessman George Steinbrenner and a group of investors bought the New York Yankees professional baseball team for US$8.7 million.
2002 – Israeli forces seized the MV Karine A, which was carrying 50 tons of weapons being smuggled in on behalf of the Palestinian Authority.

More anniversaries: January 2 – January 3 – January 4

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Today's featured picture

The Chesme Church is a small Russian Orthodox church in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Built by the Russian court architect Yury Felten in 1780, at the direction of Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia, it was erected to commemorate the anniversary of Russia's 1770 victory over Turkish forces in Chesme Bay during the Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774.

Photo: A.Savin

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