Wikipedia:Main Page history/2015 September 12

From today's featured article

Royal Opera House

The Royal Opera is based at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London. Founded in 1946 as the Covent Garden Opera Company, it was known by that title until 1968. It brought a long annual season and consistent management to a house that had previously operated under a series of impresarios. When the company was formed, its policy was to perform all works in English, but since the late 1950s most operas have been given in the original language. From the outset, performers have comprised a mixture of British and Commonwealth singers and international guest stars. Among the many guest performers have been Maria Callas, Plácido Domingo, Kirsten Flagstad, Hans Hotter, Birgit Nilsson, Luciano Pavarotti and Elisabeth Schwarzkopf. Among those who have risen to international prominence from the ranks of the company are Geraint Evans, Joan Sutherland, Kiri Te Kanawa and Jon Vickers. The company's growth from modest beginnings to parity with the world's greatest opera houses was recognised by the grant of the title "The Royal Opera" in 1968. The company has had six music directors since its inception: Karl Rankl, Rafael Kubelík, Georg Solti, Colin Davis, Bernard Haitink and Antonio Pappano. (Full article...)

HMS Rattlesnake

... that Charles Orlando Bridgeman commanded HMS Rattlesnake (pictured), and Talavera Anson kept the ship's log, while they were cruising the coast of Greece?
... that Australia-based Riot City Wrestling ran a Mexican-themed lucha libre event at the 2014 Adelaide Fringe Festival?
... that new names of Soviet origin included "Vilen" for V.I. Lenin, "Oktyabrina" for October Revolution, "Gertruda" for Hero of Labour and even "Barrikad"?
... that Vice Admiral Ma Faxiang of the Chinese Navy is believed to have committed suicide after being investigated for corruption?
... that in view of drowning incidents and hooliganism problems, security around India's Lower Manair Dam has been intensified?
... that the Netherlands was one of the first European countries to establish diplomatic relations with Singapore?
... that Upendra Nath Das was just 25 years old when he was elected to the Bihar Legislative Assembly in 1977?
... that the mountain degu can obtain sufficient moisture from its food to satisfy its water requirements?

Homo naledi specimen

A crane collapses at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, killing over 100 and severely damaging the building.
Scientists announce the discovery of Homo naledi (holotype specimen pictured), a species of early human.
Queen Elizabeth II becomes the longest-reigning British monarch, surpassing the reign of her great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria.
Guatemalan President Otto Pérez Molina is arrested after resigning amid charges of customs fraud.
The ancient temples of Bel and Baalshamin in Palmyra are destroyed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
Mount McKinley, the tallest mountain in North America, is renamed to its traditional name of Denali by the United States.

September 12: National Day in Cape Verde

John III Sobieski

490 BC – Greco-Persian Wars: Athenians and their Plataean allies turned back the first Persian invasion of Greece in the Battle of Marathon.
1683 – Great Turkish War: Polish troops led by John III Sobieski (pictured) joined forces with a Habsburg army to defeat the Ottoman Empire at the Battle of Vienna.
1848 – Switzerland became a federal state with the adoption of a new constitution.
1910 – Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 8, one of the largest-scale choral works in the classical concert repertoire, was first performed in Munich.
1977 – South African anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko was killed in police custody.

A space selfie is a selfie that is taken in space; the term has been used to describe self-portraits by astronauts and machines such as rovers. This selfie was taken by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Akihiko Hoshide during a space walk at the International Space Station on 5 September 2012 and went viral after Commander Chris Hadfield posted it to his Twitter feed on 30 September 2013.

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