Wikipedia:Main Page history/2016 September 25

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From today's featured article

Nguyễn Chánh Thi (1923–2007) was an officer in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. Thi joined the French Army at 17 and was captured by the Japanese after they invaded French Indochina during World War II. In 1960 he led the Vietnamese Airborne Division in an unsuccessful coup against Prime Minister Ngô Đình Diệm, citing political interference in the military. After Diệm's assassination in 1963, he became the deputy commander of I Corps under Nguyễn Khánh and helped him overthrow Diệm's opponents in 1964. Thi was in several juntas that ruled South Vietnam for the next two years. In February 1965, he helped to defeat a coup attempt and to force Khánh's resignation at the same time. In June Thi declined an opportunity to serve as prime minister after being nominated by his fellow officers; he wanted to let a rival take the job and then step in after they failed, but he never got the chance. After the Buddhist Uprising of 1966, Prime Minister Nguyễn Cao Kỳ had him exiled to the United States. Thi's ouster was supported by the American leadership, who backed Kỳ's pro-U.S. regime. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

Taylor Swift

... that in 2015, Taylor Swift's (pictured) video for the single "Blank Space" became the fastest to reach one billion views on Vevo?
... that Robyn Love played in her first wheelchair basketball game in 2014, her first international in 2015, and took part in the Paralympics in 2016?
... that Mike Ross disassembled two attack aircraft for his sculpture Jet Kiss, which hangs above Capitol Hill station in Seattle?
... that in 1976, Martin A. Herman proposed a bill to allow New Jersey pharmacists to substitute generic drugs for their brand-name equivalents, despite claims that drug companies would leave the state?
... that the Women's Antifascist Front of Croatia mobilized women into resistance against fascist occupiers, tasking them with ammunition transport, sabotage and diversion, and economic sustainment?
... that Sharad Kumar won gold in the high jump at the 2014 Asian Para Games, breaking a 12-year Asian Games record?
... that East Orange High School closed its swimming pool in 1933 rather than end a policy allowing black students to swim only on Friday afternoons, after which the pool would be drained and refilled?
... that two beer barrels ended Claude Blair's active military service?

In the news

Kieran Read

Yahoo! confirms that hackers infiltrated its network in late 2014 and stole information associated with at least 500 million user accounts – the largest data breach reported to date.
In rugby union, the Rugby Championship is won by New Zealand (captain Kieran Read pictured).
Typhoon Meranti affects China, Taiwan and the Philippines, causing at least 30 deaths.
The Chess Olympiad concludes with the United States winning the open event and China the women's event.
The wreck of HMS Terror, last seen in 1845 while on Franklin's lost expedition, is found off the southwest coast of King William Island, in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.

On this day...

September 25: Banned Books Week begins (2016)

Sultan Bayezid I

1396 – Ottoman wars in Europe: Ottoman forces under Bayezid I (pictured) defeated a Christian alliance led by Sigismund of Hungary in the Battle of Nicopolis near present-day Nikopol, Bulgaria.
1775 – Ethan Allen and a small force of American and Quebec militia failed in their attempt to capture Montreal from British forces.
1911 – An explosion of badly degraded propellant charges on board the French battleship Liberté detonated the forward ammunition magazines and destroyed the ship.
1962 – The North Yemen Civil War began when Abdullah as-Sallal dethroned the newly crowned Imam al-Badr and declared Yemen a republic under his presidency.
1996 – The last Magdalene asylum, an Irish institution to rehabilitate so-called "fallen women", was closed.

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Today's featured picture

A front view of a Sony α 77 II A-mount camera fitted with a Sony DT 16-50mm F2.8 SSM kit lens and photographed using low-key lighting. The Sony α77 II is an interchangeable-lens camera aimed at advanced amateur photographers. It replaced the Sony Alpha 77 model, with which it shares many design features, in June 2014. The camera features a SLT transparent mirror, an electronic viewfinder, in-body image stabilization, and a resolution of 24 megapixels.

Other views: rear, top

Photograph: Colin

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