Wikipedia:Main Page history/2016 January 6

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Freedom of Worship is the second of the Four Freedoms oil paintings produced by the American artist Norman Rockwell. They represent the freedoms outlined by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt in his State of the Union Address on January 6, 1941, including the "freedom of every person to worship God in his own way—everywhere in the world." Freedom of Worship shows the profiles of eight people of different faiths in a moment of prayer. Rockwell considered this painting and Freedom of Speech more successful than the other two paintings in the series, Freedom from Want and Freedom from Fear. Freedom of Worship appeared on February 27, 1943, in The Saturday Evening Post alongside an essay on religious freedom by philosopher Will Durant. All four images were widely distributed on posters in support of the War Bond drive. Text supporting the four freedoms was later incorporated into the Allies' World War II policy statement, the Atlantic Charter, and the charter of the United Nations. (Full article...)

Part of the Four Freedoms series, one of Wikipedia's featured topics.

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Did you know...

The Adoration of the Three Kings

... that Melchior, Caspar, and Balthazar are the traditional names of the Biblical Magi who visited the baby Jesus (pictured), though they are not named in the Bible?
... that binary logarithms can be used to determine the number of octaves between two musical tones?
... that violinist Mia Matsumiya spent ten years cataloging online harassment that she received, and has created a popular Instagram account featuring those messages?
... that the leaves of the scallop hakea cup the stem and the axillary flowers?
... that Major Arthur V. Peterson traveled to Europe before D-Day to warn General Eisenhower about the dangers of the Germans using radioactive weapons?
... that the Khpal Kor Foundation, which operates an orphanage in Pakistan's Swat District, established a Child Assembly that Malala Yousafzai once chaired?
... that Commonwealth Games multiple medal-winning gymnast Nathan Gafuik was diagnosed with Addison's disease at the age of 15?
... that the "Mauthausen Trilogy", composed by Mikis Theodorakis, has been described as the "most beautiful musical work ever written about the Holocaust"?

In the news

Portrait of Nimr al-Nimr

Nimr al-Nimr

North Korea claims to have successfully detonated a hydrogen bomb in its fourth nuclear test.
Saudi Arabia executes Nimr al-Nimr (portrait pictured) for his role in the 2011–12 Saudi Arabian protests.
A terrorist attack at India's Pathankot Air Force Station kills at least seven members of the security forces.
Egypt, Japan, Senegal, Ukraine and Uruguay take their seats on the United Nations Security Council.
IUPAC and IUPAP confirm the discoveries of chemical elements 113, 115, 117 and 118.
The governments of Japan and South Korea announce their "final and irreversible" agreement regarding comfort women.

Ongoing events:
- Syrian Civil War
- European migrant crisis
Recent deaths:
- Doug Atkins

On this day...

January 6: Epiphany (Gregorian calendar); Little Christmas in Ireland and Scotland

Fresco of Stephen Dečanski

1066 – Harold Godwinson, widely regarded as the last Anglo-Saxon king before the Norman conquest, was crowned King of England.
1322 – Having defeated his half-brother Stephen Constantine in battle, Stefan Dečanski (fresco pictured) was crowned King of Serbia.
1449 – The last Byzantine-Roman Emperor, Constantine XI Palaiologos, was crowned, four years before the Fall of Constantinople.
1839 – The most damaging storm in 300 years swept across Ireland, with 100-knot winds damaging or destroying more than 20% of the houses in Dublin.
1912 – German geophysicist Alfred Wegener first presented his theory of continental drift.
1993 – Indian Border Security Force (BSF) units killed 55 Kashmiri civilians in Sopore, Jammu and Kashmir, in revenge after militants ambushed a BSF patrol.

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Today's featured picture

Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) was an American statesman, author, explorer, soldier, naturalist, and reformer who served as the 26th President of the United States from 1901 to 1909. Sickly as a child, Roosevelt overcame his health problems by embracing a strenuous lifestyle, becoming a published author, rancher, and Republican mayoral candidate by his late twenties. In the Spanish–American War, Roosevelt rose to national fame through his service with the Rough Riders. In 1898 he was elected governor of New York, and two years later he was made William McKinley's running mate in the election of 1900. When the latter was assassinated in 1901, Roosevelt—then aged 42—became the youngest United States President in history, promoting conservation and expanding the Navy.

Photograph: Pach Brothers; restoration: Chris Woodrich

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