Wikipedia:Main Page history/2016 December 8

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From today's featured article

Ernie Toshack (8 December 1914 – 11 May 2003) was an Australian cricketer who played in 12 Tests from 1946 to 1948. He made his first-class debut in 1945 as a left-arm medium paced bowler; his accuracy, stamina, changes of pace, and movement in both directions confounded batsmen. After only seven matches in the Sheffield Shield domestic competition, he was selected for Australia's tour of New Zealand. In Wellington, he opened the bowling in a match that was later classed as an official Test match. He became a regular member of the Australian team, playing in all of its Tests until the 1947–48 series against India; he took a career-best 11 wickets for 31 runs in the First Test but began to suffer recurring knee injuries. As a member of Don Bradman's Invincibles team, which went undefeated on a tour of England in 1948, Toshack played in the first four Tests before being injured again. After a long convalescence, he attempted a comeback during Australia's 1949–50 season, but further injury forced him to retire. As a player, he was popular with crowds for his sense of humour. (Full article...)

Part of the Australian cricket team in England in 1948 series, one of Wikipedia's featured topics.

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Chenghua dish

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In the news

Aircraft involved in the crash of PIA Flight 661

PIA Flight 661 (aircraft pictured) crashes near Havelian, Pakistan, killing all 48 people on board.
More than 100 people are killed when an earthquake of magnitude 6.5 strikes Aceh, Indonesia.
Prime Minister of New Zealand John Key announces his resignation.
Alexander Van der Bellen wins the Austrian presidential election in a re-run of the second round.
A fire at a warehouse party in Oakland, California, kills 36 people.
Adama Barrow wins the Gambian presidential election, triggering the country's first change in leader since 1994.

On this day...

December 8: Rōhatsu in Japan

Model of the IKAROS spacecraft

1660 – A woman appeared on stage as a professional actress in England for the first time, most often credited to Margaret Hughes.
1880 – At an assembly of 10,000 Boers, Paul Kruger announced the fulfilment of the decision to restore the South African Republic government and volksraad.
1941 – The Holocaust: The Chełmno extermination camp in occupied Poland, the first such Nazi camp to kill the Jews of the Ghetto Litzmannstadt and the Warthegau by poison gas, began operating.
1991 – Leaders of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine signed the Belavezha Accords, agreeing to dissolve the Soviet Union and establish the Commonwealth of Independent States.
2010 – The Japanese experimental spacecraft IKAROS (model pictured) passed by Venus at about 80,800 km distance, completing its planned mission to demonstrate solar sail technology.

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Today's featured picture

Still Life: Vase with Pink Roses is an oil painting on canvas completed in 1890 by Vincent van Gogh in Saint-Rémy. At the time the work was painted, Van Gogh was readying himself to leave the Saint-Rémy asylum for the quiet town of Auvers-sur-Oise outside of Paris. The painting reflects the optimism Van Gogh felt at that time about his future, both in his choice of flowers as a subject and the colors used. The painting is owned by the National Gallery of Art of Washington, D.C.

Painting: Vincent van Gogh

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