Wikipedia:Main Page history/2017 February 21

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From today's featured article

Djedkare Isesi was an Ancient Egyptian pharaoh, the eighth ruler of the Fifth Dynasty in the late 25th century to mid 24th century BCE, during the Old Kingdom period. He likely enjoyed a reign of over 40 years, which heralded a new period in the history of the Old Kingdom. Breaking with a tradition followed by his predecessors since the time of Userkaf, Djedkare did not build a temple to the sun god Ra, possibly reflecting the rise of Osiris in the Egyptian pantheon. More significantly, Djedkare effected comprehensive reforms of the Egyptian state administration, the first undertaken since the inception of the system of ranking titles. He also reorganised the funerary cults of his forebears buried in the necropolis of Abusir and reformed the corresponding priesthood. Djedkare commissioned expeditions to Sinai to procure copper and turquoise, to Nubia for its gold and diorite and to the Land of Punt for its incense. One such expedition had what could be the earliest recorded instance of oracular divination that aimed to ensure an expedition's success. (Full article...)

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In the news

Damien Chazelle

South Sudan and the United Nations declare a famine in parts of the country.
A suicide bombing at a shrine in Sehwan, Pakistan, kills at least 83 people and injures more than 250 others.
The Indian Space Research Organisation's PSLV-C37 mission launches a record 104 satellites at once.
Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, is killed in Malaysia.
La La Land wins in five categories, including Best Film and Best Director (Damien Chazelle, pictured), at the British Academy Film Awards.

On this day...

February 21: Language Movement Day in Bangladesh

Polaroid Land Camera Model 95

1245 – Thomas, the first known Bishop of Finland, was granted resignation by Pope Innocent IV after having confessed to torture and forgery.
1828 – The inaugural issue of the Cherokee Phoenix, the first newspaper in a Native American language, was published.
1921 – The Constituent Assembly of Georgia adopted the nation's first constitution, shortly before being overthrown by the Soviet Union.
1947 – Edwin H. Land demonstrated the use of the first instant camera (pictured) to the Optical Society of America.
1952 – Protesters in Dhaka, East Pakistan, walked into military crossfire demanding the establishment of Bengali as an official language.

Nina Simone (b. 1933) · Baruch Spinoza (d. 1677)

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Today's featured picture

Men of the Docks is an oil painting on canvas completed by the American artist George Bellows in 1912. Depicting day laborers at the docks of New York City, this 114.3 by 161.3 cm (45.0 by 63.5 in) painting was sold to the National Gallery in London in 2014 for $25.5 million.

Painting: George Bellows

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