Wikipedia:Main Page history/2014 March 26

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From today's featured article

Panellus stipticus is a species of fungus in the family Mycenaceae, and the type species of the genus Panellus. A common and widely distributed species, it is found in Asia, Australasia, Europe, and North America, growing in groups or dense overlapping clusters on the logs, stumps, and trunks of deciduous trees. During the development of the fruit bodies, the mushrooms start out as tiny white knobs, which develop into fan- or kidney-shaped caps up to 3 cm (1.2 in) broad. The caps are orange-yellow to brownish, and attached to the decaying wood by short stubby stalks. The fungus was first described by French mycologist Jean Bulliard in 1783 and was given its current scientific name in 1879. It is one of several dozen bioluminescent species of fungi. Strains from eastern North America are typically bioluminescent, but those from elsewhere are not. The luminescence is localized to the edges of the gills and the junction of the gills with the stem and cap. The luminescent glow of this and other fungi inspired the term foxfire, coined by early settlers in eastern and southern North America. Modern research has probed the fungus's ability to detoxify various environmental pollutants. (Full article...)

Recently featured: Neil Harvey with the Australian cricket team in England in 1948 – Kennedy half dollar – Ontario Highway 416

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Did you know...

From Wikipedia's new and recently improved content:

... that Milan Baroš (pictured) was the top scorer at UEFA Euro 2004?
... that the Foldscope, a microscope made out of cardstock that costs under US$1, was designed to help detect 12 disease-causing organisms?
... that Asare Akuffo is the lead advocate of all Ghanaian businesses because of the Private Enterprise Foundation?
... that after the U.S. Supreme Court declared school segregation unlawful, a segregated school in Tennessee received new kitchen equipment for use in classes that trained black girls to work as servants?
... that Dominique Khalfouni, once a star (étoile) of the Paris Opera Ballet, regretted her decision to leave the company she still loves deeply?
... that Les fleurs dédaignées is a picture in a 16th-century style, with a 17th-century backdrop, showing an 18th-century lady's dress, painted by a 19th-century-born artist, modelled by a 20th-century prostitute?

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In the news

Japanese architect Shigeru Ban (pictured) wins the Pritzker Prize.
Malaysia Airlines announces that Flight 370, which went missing on 8 March, crashed in the southern Indian Ocean with no survivors.
A mudslide in the US state of Washington kills at least 16 people and leaves more than 100 missing.
More than 100 people are killed when a boat capsizes in Lake Albert between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Russia formally annexes Crimea while the European Union and Ukraine sign an association agreement.
Anna Fenninger and Marcel Hirscher of Austria win the overall Alpine Skiing World Cup titles.

Recent deaths: Adolfo Suárez – Fred Phelps

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On this day...

March 26: Independence Day in Bangladesh (1971)

1169 – Saladin (depicted on coin) was inaugurated as Emir of Egypt.
1830 – The Book of Mormon, the defining sacred text of the Latter Day Saint movement, was first published.
1917 – First World War: Attempting to advance into Palestine, the British were defeated by Ottoman troops at the First Battle of Gaza.
1939 – Spanish Civil War: Nationalists began their final offensive of the war, at the end of which they controlled almost the entire country.
1974 – A group of peasant women in Chamoli district, Uttarakhand, India, used their bodies to surround trees in order to prevent loggers from felling them, giving rise to the Chipko movement.

More anniversaries: March 25 – March 26 – March 27

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It is now March 26, 2014 (UTC) – Reload this page

Today's featured picture

John Herschel was an English mathematician, astronomer, chemist, inventor, and experimental photographer. He named seven moons of Saturn and four moons of Uranus, invented the cyanotype and actinometer, and wrote extensively on topics including meteorology, physical geography and the telescope.

Photograph: Julia Margaret Cameron; restoration: Adam Cuerden

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