Wikipedia:Main Page history/2017 December 11

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From today's featured article

Nigel (c. 1100 – 1169) was Treasurer of England under King Henry I, before being appointed to the see, or bishopric, of Ely in 1133. Nigel owed his advancement to his uncle, Roger of Salisbury, a bishop and government minister. Following the accession of Henry I's successor, King Stephen, Nigel remained as treasurer only briefly. He rebelled and deserted to Stephen's rival Matilda, and never regained high office under Stephen. On the king's death, Nigel was returned to the treasurership by the new king, Henry II. In Nigel's second tenure as treasurer, he returned the administration to the practices of Henry I. He withdrew from much of his public work after around 1164, following an attack of paralysis. He was succeeded as treasurer by his son, Richard FitzNeal, whom he had trained in the operations of the Exchequer, or Treasury of England. Most historians have felt that Nigel's administrative abilities were excellent; he is considered to have been more talented as an administrator than as a religious figure. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

The portico facade, 2010

... that a tomb (pictured) in Yavne is claimed as the site of burial of Abu Hurairah by Muslims and Gamaliel II by Jews, despite both claims being highly unlikely?
... that Australian prime minister Harold Holt's death by drowning has been commemorated by a warship, a naval installation, and multiple swimming pools?
... that Nicole Grobert, professor of nanomaterials at the University of Oxford, was awarded a Royal Society Industry Fellowship in 2016, her third fellowship from the Royal Society?
... that Robert Swinhoe initially thought that the "ugly raw-looking red patch on the throat" of the Taiwan partridge was an injury?
... that it took Salma Ismail, the first Malaysian Malay woman to qualify as a doctor, 11 years to complete her medical studies?
... that in divergent double subduction, an ocean shrinks and sinks?
... that Femi Claudius Cole offers free health checks as she campaigns to become President of Sierra Leone?
... that according to legend, a spectral knight on a white horse is sometimes seen riding toward Weichenwang to visit his lover?
... that Sir John Minsterworth, who joined the French army during the Hundred Years' War, was later returned to England and hanged, drawn and quartered in 1377 for "wilful support" of the enemy?

In the news

Halszkaraptor escuilliei fossil

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declares victory against ISIL after capturing the group's remaining territory in the country.
The Parliament of Australia passes legislation to allow same-sex marriage.
Halszkaraptor, a duck-like dinosaur genus thought to have been semiaquatic, is described from a Mongolian fossil (pictured).
U.S. President Donald Trump announces that the United States recognizes Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
The International Olympic Committee bans Russia from competing at the 2018 Winter Olympics, following investigation into doping at the 2014 Games.

On this day...

December 11

The Old Well at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

1789 – The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (The Old Well pictured), one of the oldest public universities in the United States and the only one to award degrees in the 18th century, received its charter.
1886 – The London-based football club Arsenal, then known as Dial Square, played their first match on the Isle of Dogs.
1920 – Irish War of Independence: Following an Irish Republican Army ambush of a British Auxiliary patrol in Cork, British forces burned and looted numerous buildings in the city.
1962 – Convicted murderers Ronald Turpin and Arthur Lucas were the last two persons to be executed in Canada.
1981 – Salvadoran Civil War: About 900 civilians were killed by the Salvadoran armed forces in an anti-guerrilla campaign.

Colley Cibber (d. 1757) · Hector Berlioz (b. 1803) · Max Born (b. 1882)

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From today's featured list

Maggie Cheung

The Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actress is an award presented annually at the Hong Kong Film Awards. It is given to honour an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a Hong Kong film. The 1st Hong Kong Film Awards ceremony was held in 1982, with no formal nomination procedure established; the award was given to Kara Hui for her role in My Young Auntie. After the first award ceremony, a nomination system was put in place whereby no more than five nominations are made for each category and each entry is selected through two rounds of voting. Maggie Cheung (pictured) holds the title for the most awards received having been honoured on five separate occasions. Sylvia Chang holds the record for the most nominated actress with ten nominations. Since its inception, 81 actresses have been nominated for the award with 26 actresses winning at least one of the 36 awards. (Full list...)

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Today's featured picture

Meripilus giganteus is a polypore fungus in the family Meripilaceae. It causes a white rot in various types of broadleaved trees, particularly beech. This bracket fungus is often found in large clumps at the base of trees, although fruiting bodies are sometimes found some distance from the trunk, parasitizing the roots. M. giganteus has a circumboreal distribution in the Northern Hemisphere, and is widely distributed in Europe. In the field, it is recognizable by the large, multi-capped fruiting body, as well as its pore surface that quickly darkens black when bruised or injured.

Photograph: Michael Gäbler

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