Wikipedia:Main Page history/2015 November 20

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From today's featured article

State Route 75 (SR 75) is a 13-mile (21 km) expressway in San Diego County, California. It is a loop route of Interstate 5 that begins near Imperial Beach, heading west on Palm Avenue. The route continues north along the Silver Strand, a thin strip of land bordering San Diego Bay, through Silver Strand State Beach. SR 75 passes through the city of Coronado as Orange Avenue (pictured) and continues onto the San Diego–Coronado Bay Bridge over the bay, before joining back with Interstate 5 near downtown San Diego at a freeway interchange. Orange Avenue dates from the late 19th century, and the Silver Strand Highway was open to the public by 1924. What would become SR 75 was added to the state highway system in 1933 and designated Legislative Route 199 in 1935. SR 75 was not officially designated until the 1964 state highway renumbering. The Coronado Bay Bridge opened in 1969, providing a direct connection between San Diego and Coronado. SR 75 is marked as a scenic route for nearly its entire length. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

Statue of Hu Zongxian in Yuyao, Zhejiang

... that Hu Zongxian (statue pictured), the supreme commander in charge of fighting the "wokou" pirates in the 16th century, is an ancestor of the former Chinese president Hu Jintao?
... that Lansdowne Bridge has the longest span of any extant masonry bridge in Australia?
... that Gene Roddenberry received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame after a campaign by Star Trek fan clubs for $1 donations towards its upkeep?
... that Singapore is the third-largest foreign investor in Vietnam?
... that journalist Arzu Geybullayeva has received numerous death threats and has been branded a "traitor" because she worked for an Armenian newspaper?
... that several cyclists were blown off their bicycles in the 2015 Gent–Wevelgem?

In the news

Airbus A321-231 operated as Metrojet Flight 9268

Russia's Federal Security Service confirms that Metrojet Flight 9268 (aircraft pictured) was destroyed by a bomb.
At least 129 people are killed in a series of coordinated terrorist attacks in Paris.
Kurdish forces retake the Yazidi city of Sinjar from ISIS militants.
Following a World Anti-Doping Agency investigation, the IAAF suspends Russia from all international competition in the sport of athletics.
The National League for Democracy, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, wins a majority in Myanmar's general election.

Ongoing events:
- European migrant crisis
Recent deaths:
- Jonah Lomu

On this day...

November 20: Universal Children's Day

Nuremberg trial defendants

284 – Diocletian became Roman emperor, eventually establishing reforms that ended the Crisis of the Third Century.
1776 – American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Fort Lee marked the invasion of New Jersey by British and Hessian forces and the subsequent general retreat of the Continental Army.
1845 – Anglo-French blockade of the Río de la Plata: The Argentine Confederation were defeated in the Battle of Vuelta de Obligado, but the losses ultimately made the United Kingdom and France give up the blockade.
1945 – The Nuremberg trials (defendants pictured) of 24 leading Nazis involved in the Holocaust and various war crimes during World War II began in Nuremberg, Germany.
1979 – A group of armed insurgents attacked and took over the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, declaring that one of their leaders, Muhammad bin abd Allah al-Qahtani, was the Mahdi, the prophesied redeemer of Islam.

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From today's featured list

Ashura, a Japanese National Treasure sculpture from 734

One hundred thirty entries of sculpture have been designated as National Treasures of Japan, including groups of related sculptures that have been joined to form single entries. The term "National Treasure" has been used in Japan to denote cultural properties since 1897. The definition and the criteria have changed since the inception of the term. These sculptures adhere to the current definition, and have been designated national treasures since the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties came into force on June 9, 1951. The items are selected by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology based on their "especially high historical or artistic value". The sculpture entries include those from Classical and early Feudal Japan of the 7th-century Asuka period to the 13th-century Kamakura period. They depict Buddhist (Ashura pictured) and Shintō deities or priests venerated as founders of temples. Some of the most ancient sculptures were imported directly from China. (Full list...)

Part of the National Treasures of Japan series, one of Wikipedia's featured topics.

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An H&E stain of a histological section taken from the gastric antrum, showing the mucosa of the stomach.

Photograph: Nephron

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