Wikipedia:Main Page history/2014 June 6

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Operations Taxable, Glimmer and Big Drum were tactical military deceptions conducted on 6 June 1944 in support of the Allied landings in Normandy. The operations formed the naval component of Operation Bodyguard, a wider series of tactical and strategic deceptions surrounding the invasion. By towing radar reflector balloons and producing significant amounts of radio traffic, small boats simulated invasion fleets approaching Cap d'Antifer, Pas-de-Calais and Normandy. Royal Air Force bombers, including Lancaster bombers (pictured) from No. 617 "Dam Busters" Squadron, created the illusion of a large fleet on coastal radar screens by dropping chaff in progressive patterns. Glimmer and Taxable played on the German belief that the main invasion force would land in the Calais region. Big Drum was positioned on the western flank of the real invasion force to try to confuse German forces about the scale of the landings. It is unclear whether the operations were successful, due to the complexity of their execution, poor weather, and lack of response from German forces. It is possible they contributed to the overall confusion of D-Day as part of the wider Bodyguard plan. (Full article...)

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From Wikipedia's new and recently improved content:

... that during the 17th century many couples performed "erotic" acts near The Iron Lady (pictured), and it was thrown into the river twice for being an object of pagan veneration?
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... that Iggy Azalea's "Black Widow", co-written by Katy Perry, was originally intended to be a duet with both singers?
... that Olympian Murray Buchan originally wanted to work in mountain rescues?
... that "El Gran Carlemany", the national anthem of Andorra, proclaims the microstate as the "only remaining daughter of the Carolingian empire"?
... that the 1999 film Isusumbong Kita Sa Tatay Ko was the first Philippine-produced film to exceed 100 million pesos in box office gross?
... that after it was banned, members of the Iraqi Anti-Zionist League were arrested and charged with the crime of Zionism?

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In the news

The European Central Bank cuts the main interest rate to 0.15% and sets the deposit rate at -0.10% in an attempt stimulate the eurozone economy.
A mass grave of up to 800 children is uncovered in Tuam, Ireland.
Saudi Arabia announces 113 previously unreported cases of MERS and revises the outbreak death toll to 282.
King Juan Carlos I of Spain (pictured) announces his intention to abdicate.
Telangana officially becomes the 29th state of India.
The U.S. government agrees to release five Taliban prisoners in exchange for the release of Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl.

Ongoing: Ukrainian conflict
Recent deaths: Svyatoslav Belza

On this day...

June 6

1674 – Shivaji, who led a resistance to free the Maratha from the Sultanate of Bijapur and the Mughal Empire, was crowned the first Chhatrapati of the Maratha Empire.
1859 – Queen Victoria signed letters patent separating the colony of Queensland from New South Wales.
1892 – The 'L' train (1922 train pictured) of Chicago, the second longest rapid transit system in total track mileage in the United States, began operations.
1912 – The largest eruption of the 20th century created the Novarupta volcano in the Alaska Peninsula, US.
1985 – The remains of Josef Mengele, a Nazi physician notorious for human experiments done on Auschwitz inmates, were discovered in Embu das Artes, Brazil.

More anniversaries: June 5 – June 6 – June 7

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From today's featured list

A painting of a large group of people in a room, most looking at the man in the center who is wearing a blue jacket and raising his left hand

Most national anthems are either marches or hymns in style. The first national anthem to be composed was the Dutch national anthem "Wilhelmus", which was written between 1568 and 1572. The first anthem to be officially adopted as such was the Spanish anthem "Marcha Real" in 1770. The French anthem "La Marseillaise" (first performance pictured) was written soon after in 1792 and adopted in 1795. National anthems are usually written in the most common language of the state, whether de facto or official. For example, India's anthem "Jana Gana Mana" is written in a Sanskritized version of Bengali, and Sanskrit and Bengali are both official languages of India. The New Zealand national anthem "God Defend New Zealand" is traditionally sung with the first verse in Māori and the second in English. South Africa's national anthem is unique in that five of the eleven official languages are used in the same anthem, in which each language comprises a stanza. (Full list...)

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A male head louse, an obligate ectoparasitic insect which spends its entire life on the human scalp and feeds exclusively on human blood. It is one of three louse species which infects humans, along with the body louse and the crab louse. Head lice infestation is widely endemic, especially in children, and treatment of such infestations is not 100% effective; the lice themselves, however, are not disease vectors, and it has been suggested that they are beneficial to the body.

Photograph: Gilles San Martin

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