Wikipedia:Main Page history/2016 January 20

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From today's featured article

Oriental Film was a film production company in Batavia, Dutch East Indies (now Jakarta, Indonesia). Established by ethnic Chinese businessman Tjo Seng Han in 1940, it completed four black-and-white films before it was closed in 1941. All the company's films were screened into the mid-1940s but may now be lost. They were directed by two men, Njoo Cheong Seng and Sutan Usman Karim, and launched the careers of actors such as Dhalia and Soerip. Established during the revival of the Indies film industry, Oriental released its first film, Kris Mataram, in July 1940. It starred Njoo's wife Fifi Young, and relied on her fame as a stage actress to draw audiences. This was followed by three more films, targeted at low-income audiences and scored with kroncong music. Njoo showed a proclivity for sensation, using bright, extravagant costumes. Oriental's final production was Panggilan Darah, completed in 1941 after Njoo and Young had left the company. Oriental's Dutch-owned studio facilities made them the largest and most modern studio in the Indies, but they were unable to recoup the rental fees on the property, and in 1941 the company was shut down. (Full article...)

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In the news

Tsai Ing-wen

The International Atomic Energy Agency affirms Iran has met its obligations under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, triggering the removal of some sanctions.
Tsai Ing-wen (pictured) is elected the first female President of Taiwan, and her Democratic Progressive Party wins a majority in the Legislative Yuan.
AQIM militants kill at least twenty-eight people in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
Scientists describe ASASSN-15lh, the brightest known superluminous supernova ever detected, shining up to fifty times brighter than the entire Milky Way.
Hurricane Alex becomes the first recorded Atlantic hurricane to form in the month of January since 1938.
Militant attacks in Jakarta, Indonesia, kill three people.

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On this day...

January 20: Martyrs' Day in Azerbaijan (1990)

2009 inauguration of Barack Obama

1156 – According to legend, freeholder Lalli slew Bishop Henry of Finland with an axe on the ice of the lake Köyliönjärvi in Köyliö, Finland.
1785 – Tây Sơn forces of Vietnam annihilated an invading Siamese army who were attempting to restore Nguyễn Ánh to the throne.
1843 – Honório Hermeto Carneiro Leão, Marquis of Paraná, became the de facto first prime minister of the Empire of Brazil.
1946 – Favouring stronger executive power than the draft constitution for the French Fourth Republic provided, Charles de Gaulle resigned as President of the Provisional Government.
2009 – In Washington, D.C., over 1 million people attended the inauguration of Barack Obama (pictured) as the first African American President of the United States.

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Today's featured picture

An interior view of the Church of St Mary the Virgin in Bury, Greater Manchester. Though a church has existed at the site since at least 971, the current building was designed by J. S. Crowther and officially opened in 1876. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II listed building.

Photograph: Michael D Beckwith

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