Wikipedia:Main Page history/2015 November 14

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From today's featured article

Elias Abraham Rosenberg (c. 1810 – 1887) was an adviser to King Kalākaua of Hawaii. He had lived in San Francisco in the 1880s, working as a peddler and selling illegal lottery tickets. In 1886, he traveled to Hawaii and performed as a fortune-teller. Endearing himself to the king with favorable predictions, he received lavish gifts and was appointed as a kahuna-kilokilo (royal soothsayer), customs appraiser, and guard. Rosenberg and the king enjoyed talking and drinking together, but he was distrusted by other royal advisers and satirized in the Hawaiian press. He encouraged the king to revive the traditional Hawaiian religion, an idea that fascinated Kalākaua but angered political rivals. In 1887 Rosenberg returned to California; a month later, he was admitted to a hospital in San Francisco, where he died. In Hawaii, the 1887 Constitution—which curtailed royal power—was forced on Kalākaua. A Torah scroll presented to the king by Rosenberg was later exhibited with other royal treasures and eventually donated to Temple Emanu-El in Honolulu. (Full article...)

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In the news

Bataclan theatre

At least 120 people are killed amid shootings and explosions (Bataclan theatre pictured) in Paris, France.
Russia is suspended from all international athletic competition by the IAAF following a World Anti-Doping Agency report into doping in athletics.
The National League for Democracy, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, wins a majority in Myanmar's general election.
At least 37 people are killed and more than 200 others are injured by double suicide bombings in Beirut, Lebanon.
In motorsport, Jorge Lorenzo wins the MotoGP World Championship.

Ongoing events:
- Metrojet Flight 9268
- European migrant crisis
Recent deaths:
- Pat Eddery
- Helmut Schmidt

On this day...

November 14: World Diabetes Day; Children's Day in India

Eugene Burton Ely taking off from a warship

1910 – Aviator Eugene Burton Ely performed the first takeoff from a ship (pictured), flying from a makeshift deck on the USS Birmingham in Hampton Roads, Virginia, US.
1940 – Second World War: Coventry Cathedral and much of the city centre of Coventry, England, were destroyed by the German Luftwaffe during the Coventry Blitz.
1975 – With the signing of the Madrid Accords, Spain agreed to withdraw its presence from the territory of Spanish Sahara.
1995 – As a result of budget conflicts between President Bill Clinton and the United States Congress led by Newt Gingrich, the federal government was forced to shut down non-essential services.
2003 – Astronomers Michael E. Brown, Chad Trujillo, and David L. Rabinowitz discovered the trans-Neptunian object 90377 Sedna.

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Today's featured picture

The groundscraper thrush (Psophocichla litsitsirupa) is a passerine bird of southern and eastern Africa belonging to the thrush family. Four subspecies are known of this bird, which is found in savannas, grasslands and open woodlands.

Photograph: Yathin S Krishnappa

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